Over the past four years Martin Stott has been documenting the people who live on Divinity Road. Martin has lived on Divinity Road for many years, and will be well known to many of you for his active participation in our community.
Divinity Road is a long, diverse, and transient street, and photographing over 120 households, especially during Covid, has been a challenge, but also a community-building project. Now the results will be displayed on the outside of the Co-op at the bottom of Divinity Road from 12-15 May, during Artweeks.
As well as around 60 households who reflect the diverse aspects of the street’s population, there will be a dozen photos of the Co-ops own staff. The projects progress has been recorded on his website and aspects of the street that cannot reasons for of space, be included in the exhibition can be found there.
Prof Alexandra Harris introduces the exhibition saying: ‘Martin has been trying to know his street for over 30 years. He’s poised between the objective recorder and the long-term neighbour. He’s photographing his place with a curiosity and attention that comes from loving it. But he knows that streets are changing and that neighbourhoods are best not taken for granted.’
The exhibition will be immersive and interactive, with opportunities to comment on it, add to it, nominate your favourite picture (and say why) and even contribute direct to the website via a QR code.
Martin, who is also part of a group exhibition at the Martin Parr Foundation in Bristol called ‘Documentary, zines and subversion’, will be there to discuss the work and sell his photobooks Wear a mask! Oxford pandemic portraits (Signal Books) and English worker co-ops 1980s (Café Royal Books). It will be an opportunity for DRARA residents to react, respond and participate in a piece of social history in the making.
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