Craig Easton: Is Anybody Listening? Thatcher's Children

About

Craig Easton: Is Anybody Listening?
Thatcher’s Children, 11 Sept – 27 Oct

Is Anybody Listening? is a touring exhibition showcasing two award-winning series of works by photographer and University alumnus Craig Easton. Passionate about politics since his teenage years, Easton aims to challenge the ‘accepted’ narratives and stereotypes presented by and through the mainstream media

In 2021, Easton was named Photographer of the Year at the prestigious Sony World Photography Awards for his series Bank Top, shot in Blackburn between 2019 and 2021 (before and during Covid). He was awarded second place in the documentary category for the series Thatcher’s Children, started in 1992 and continued in 2016-22. The exhibition brings these two important series of work to a wider audience across the Northwest.

Easton describes his work as being ‘deeply rooted in the documentary tradition’. In order to build trustwith his subjects, he invests time getting to know the individuals, families, communities and places. His approach varies, from standing with his large wooden view camera on a street corner in Bank Top, throug to attending a Williams ’ family wedding. The resulting photographs are beautiful and intimate portraits, full of sensitivity and respect, which provide alternative perspectives to the stereotypes around northern communities, poverty and the notion of ‘culture wars’ so often portrayed by policymakers and the media. These powerful images present an important picture of long-term systemic failure by successive governments to deal with the root causes of inequality and social deprivation. They give a voice to those who are rarely heard.

The exhibition is presented in two parts in Salford with Thatcher’s Children running from 11 September – 27 October in New Adelphi Exhibition Gallery.

Thatcher's Children is a long-term project, started in 1992, documenting the Williams family, trapped in a cycle of unemployment and poverty. Having reconnected with the Williams in 2016, Thatcher's Children not only captures intimate and personal moments of family life but also tells a wider story of the cyclical nature of social deprivation.