PhotoHastings Festival: There, not Here

There, not Here is a compelling exhibition staged by six photographers: Anne Lydiat, Derek Cottrell, Gary Willis, Giles Stokoe, Imogen Bloor and Neale Willis. Last year many of the same photographers staged Here, not There which was a really stand-out show, and the quality has not diminished this year. A variety of challenging themes reflect the title from global warming and studies of the homeless to personal memories. HOT’s Lauris Morgan-Griffiths, who is also a member of PhotoHastings, was impressed.

No home, no hope

Gary Willis is a dynamo of energy and has contributed three different projects to this exhibition. He has touchingly staged, in memoriam, the last photographs he ever took of his parents; images around the wall with two chairs shrouded in white, their portraits positioned on top. It’s a difficult project to see, not least for himself and his family.

Also hard to look at are his poignant images of Hastings homeless which are heart-guttingly authentic. And if one didn’t realise the tough way they live, their hands and fingernails really bring it home. One image that I can’t get out of my head is of a woman, Cat, taken in George Street, shielding her face.

Gary has also, in case anyone was totally unaware of the scale of homelessness, put up a table of  facts and figures from various government figures: last year there was a 14% increase, in homelessness, up 38,100; 1 in 182 people are homeless in England; over 3,000 people are sleeping rough each night; 38,440 households have been assessed as threatened with homelessness.

And this is in the sixth largest economy in the world.

It is strange that in an exhibition where all the exhibitors are only given the title, when they all hang the work, it appears to have a coherence. Imogen Bloor has also chosen homelessness and displacement as her theme. She has made portraits of keys– they give a proof of ownership of somewhere to live, whereas tents, ubiquitous in most town centres, show the transitory and cold nature of living on the streets.

She explains: “I saw the shadows of buildings specifically, as metaphors for absent homes, echoes of homes, destroyed homes.” She specifically chose the room in St Andrews Mews, “precisely  because of its air of dereliction which I felt was perfect for the work.”

Only ever here and never there

Derek Cottrell says of his images, which somehow depict a physical and emotional distance: a disconnect. He says: “For this exhibition, ‘There’ is a location where I once lived. It is ‘there’ where I reconnected with photography. These images are my introspection and extrospection from my time ‘there’. Of course, in reality, we are only ever here and never there.”

The images are affecting and touching, as he explores his time in Herefordshire where he once lived. The image above appears to be a ray of hope in what otherwise could be seen as a somewhat gloomy time.

Fading icebergs

Anne Lydiat’s prints of disappearing icebergs were taken in 2016 on a trip to Greenland. Their large size reflects the monumental icy beasts. The prints were deliberately printed on low grade paper then put under glass to let the sun, rain and wind do their worst, then a concoction of household bleach was added so they faded to become shadows of themselves.

Neal Willis is an interesting photographer to watch – he curated the show running concurrently at Electro, and his images are of a feeling of saying farewell to London. That which we leave behind is a collection of images made between 2011 and 2024 that tell a story of everyday London, the London that is now there, not here.

There is stability and change in Giles Stokoe’s work where he has photographed the South Downs, a constant in the landscape, although dwelling on the changes over the centuries from Iron Age forts, forestation, clearings for pastures, agriculture, then the 2,000 miles of trails used by hikers, bikers and marathon runners.

There, not here is on at St Andrews Mews, Waldegrave Street (off Queens Road), Hastings, TN34 1SP from Thursday 10 to Sunday 13 October, 11–5pm.

Also in: Photography

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Fifty years in the dark »