Proximity

I was feeling down, really down. I won't go into the reasons why, it was a humid Monday afternoon and I had found myself walking past Manchester Art Gallery, and on a whim, ventured in. I had vague memories of visiting once when I was around 11/12 years old with my dad. He wasn't really into art but it was something to do that didn't cost anything. 

Walking around the exhibitions, gazing at these remarkable paintings, the memory of my initial visit came flooding back to me, the feeling of looking up at this great artwork, of wondering what it all meant and how such artistic feats had been achieved. Most vividly however, the memory of being with my dad. We visited the city numerous times over the years, however I think this was the only time we ever went to a gallery together. 

Since losing him to cancer in 2013 I've had numerous moments where I wish we would be able to catch up, so I could perhaps ask him about his childhood, or to show him where I was in life. That day in the gallery, with all of this at the forefront of my mind I remembered Neil Gaiman's famous advice to make good art, to 'make it on the bad days'. So, I did. 

Proximity is a photographic study of the area and inhabitants of Cheetham Hill, a suburb to the north of Manchester city centre which is heavily multicultural (most don't call English their first language), where Muslims, Sikhs, Jews and christians amongst certainly more, live close together and struggle to make ends meet. It is also where my dad grew up in the 1950's and 60's. 

Visiting for my first time, to take photographs and just absorb the feeling of standing where over 50 years ago my father would have stood and experienced the formative years of his life, was my way of making art that only I could make, and I hope that shows in the images.

Proximity was compiled over several visits, however I don't think this project will ever be truly finished.