Daniel Meadows & Gavin Parry: Photographing families, then and now
Event Information
About this Event
Daniel Meadows was a student at Manchester Poly in 1973, when he and his friend Martin Parr undertook a project photographing every resident on June Street in Salford; 20 individuals and families living in terraced houses awaiting demolition. They documented the residents in their living rooms, surrounded by their possessions and pets, and spoke to them about their impending move into high-rise flats.
In 2018, 1.5 miles away, the white and grey modular terraces of Irwell Riverside were completed, and the first residents moved in. In a homage and a redux of the June Street series, photographer Gavin Parry has made portraits of the new residents. Lived-In Rooms brings these two series side by side, in a house on the Irwell Riverside estate, in a provocation on the changing nature of the street, the home, the neighbourhood and the city.
Since the 1970s, Daniel has made a career as an independent photographer, but June Street is possibly still the work that stimulates the strongest emotional response and the most discussion. In an intimate roundtable conversation in the house where the exhibition is taking place, Gavin and Daniel will discuss why these portraits are so striking, their different experiences of photographing Salford residents, then and now, and their approaches to documenting the familial and the home.
Daniel Meadows has had a long career as a photographer and academic. His work has been published and exhibited widely, including at the National Media Museum. His photographic projects include the Shop on Greame Street (1972), Butlin’s by the Sea (1972), The Free Photographic Omnibus (1973-74), and Nattering in Paradise (1984). He taught with Magnum photographer David Hurn on the Newport Documentary Photography course and later at Cardiff University's School of Journalism, Media and Cultural studies. From 2001-06 he was creative director of the BAFTA (Cymru) winning Capture Wales, the BBC's digital storytelling project, which was also the subject of his PhD. In 2019 the Bodleian Library, Oxford, announced its acquisition of the Daniel Meadows archive and is currently celebrating with an exhibition and a new book ‘Now and Then: England 1970-2015’.
Gavin Parry is a photographer and Acting Head of Media at Manchester Metropolitan University. His practice evolves from a documentary tradition and he has an interest in the process and methodology of making portraits that is collaborative and relational. His work explores photography's particular relationship with the subject and the complex representation of identity, sense of place and belonging. Gavin created the Irwell Riverside photographic series in 2019, in partnership with Quarantine’s Tenancy project. Lived-In Rooms is the first time it has been exhibited publicly.
Date & time: Saturday 23 November, 2-3pm
Location: 2a Springfield Lane, Salford, M3 7FH
This is a free event taking place in the kitchen of the house while the exhibition is open. Places around the table are limited so booking is essential if you would like a seat.