I would use this bursary to consolidate and expand my ongoing project Wombling: Archiving Dad—a deeply personal investigation into grief, memory, and the way ordinary objects can carry traces of love and loss following my father’s sudden death. I am currently developing this work as a handmade, limited-edition photobook, with a dummy version due to launch later this year. The bursary would allow me to build on this foundation and realise a new, ambitious phase of the project.
Specifically, I will use the award to dedicate time to researching and developing an interactive 3D touring installation: a physical interpretation of the work that brings together photography, objects, sound, and text. This new form will allow me to experiment with engaging audiences more directly—inviting them to reflect on their own experiences of loss, remembrance, and material attachment. It represents a shift from personal reflection to public engagement and shared encounter.
The award will enable me to test installation formats, explore sustainable and accessible touring models, and draw on the expertise of exhibition designers, sound artists, and writers. I will approach curators and production specialists to ensure the work can be adapted for a range of venues, including museums, galleries, and non-traditional spaces. In addition to launching the work in Darlington, I intend to approach institutions such as the Museum of the Home and propose the installation to international photography festivals.
This phase marks an important evolution in my practice—from creating participatory, documentary photography rooted in place to working with personal archives and exploring themes of reuse, recycle, make do and mend, loss, and grief. It allows me to consolidate ideas developed through the photobook while testing new, multi-sensory approaches to storytelling.
Ultimately, the bursary would provide the time, resources, and freedom to develop a body of work with both artistic and emotional ambition. It will strengthen my creative voice, expand my audience, and support a meaningful shift in practice that remains rooted in authenticity while embracing new forms of collaboration and presentation.
As a North East based artist, I see the Dover Prize as a valuable opportunity to contribute meaningfully to the cultural life of Darlington. My project, Wombling: Archiving Dad, has the potential to engage both arts and non-arts audiences in powerful and personal ways. By launching the next phase of this work in Darlington as an interactive installation, I would be bringing an ambitious yet accessible contemporary art experience directly to the town.
The installation would offer an intimate reflection on personal and collective memory, while also broadening the public’s understanding of what visual art can be—interactive, emotional, and rooted in lived experience. I want to create a welcoming and inclusive experience that encourages local communities to engage with the work and each other, particularly through outreach activity (subject to further funding) such as conversations, workshops, or memory-sharing events.
Presenting the work in Darlington before it tours nationally and internationally would position the town as a place where innovative contemporary work is both created and launched. I am keen to ground the project locally by collaborating with organisations, practitioners, and venues across the area, ensuring the work remains rooted in place.
I’m a socially engaged photographer based in County Durham. My work often focuses on rural issues, people, and place, grounded in a strong connection to the land. I’m a founding member of North East arts collective Wideyed and a member of The Photobook Club Collective. Alongside developing my own projects, I regularly collaborate with groups and communities to create participatory and socially engaged work. Over the past decade, I’ve led or co-developed a wide range of collaborative projects that span photography, publishing, and socially engaged practice. Recent work includes RADICAL RECIPES (2023–24), a cookbook-inspired publication celebrating grassroots initiatives that use food to bring people together; FABULOUS FLORA (2024), a creative project with primary school students exploring rare flora through sound, photography, and zine-making; and BLOSSOM (2024), a National Trust commission in Middlesbrough culminating in a site-specific community exhibition. I’ve worked with care home residents and isolated individuals in response to Covid-19 (HOME TIME, 2021–22), and with rural communities through AGRI[CULTURE] (2018–19)—a collective project celebrating North Pennines agricultural shows, exhibited in a mobile cattle trailer gallery with accompanying self-published Wideyed Editions photobook. Alongside this socially engaged work, I continue to develop and exhibit personal projects. Edits of Wombling: Archiving Dad – the project I want to develop with this award – have featured in HIDDEN WORLDS at FORMAT International Photography Festival (2023), Narratives of the Possible (Wyoming, 2021), and VISUALISING THE HOME at Carlisle Photo Festival (2017). Other recent exhibitions include HANDWORKED at Killhope Leadmining Museum (2022), HEFTED TO HILL for Northern Heartlands (2019), and LINEAGE AND LEGACY, Ucross Foundation, Wyoming (2017). I’m motivated to present work in thoughtful and unusual ways, often reimagining it for new audiences and settings—from agricultural shows and care homes to international galleries. This approach reflects my belief in making visual art accessible, meaningful, and appropriate to the setting.
Bsc (hons) Photographic and Electronic Imaging Science (2:1) – University of Westminster, 1993-96
Yes. In 2022, I received a Developing Your Creative Practice (DYCP) grant from Arts Council England to explore new approaches to handmade artist books and expand my photobook practice. I was also selected to join the East Meets West 2022/23 cohort—a professional development programme for emerging photographers supported by FORMAT and GRAIN. In 2016, I participated in NEPN’s DEVELOP scheme, which offered mentoring and support to photographers in the North East to advance their artistic practice.
As a member of the artist collective Wideyed, I have also secured funding for a number of collaborative, socially engaged projects. Radical Recipes (2023–24) received seed funding from East Durham Creates; Home Time (2021–22) was supported by County Durham Community Foundation; and Agri[culture] (2018-2019) was funded to tour with the support of Northern Heartlands’ Covid Recovery Fund and Durham County Council’s arts development funding. These grants enabled us to work closely with local communities, develop participatory work, and present it in accessible, often unconventional settings.
Through Wideyed, the artist-led collective, I’ve been actively involved in creating and delivering self-initiated professional opportunities. This has included securing funding, managing budgets, coordinating logistics, and delivering projects on time and to a high standard. Many of our projects—such as Agri[culture], Showstoppers, and Home Time—have been developed in response to specific contexts or needs and realised through successful funding applications. These projects often involve partnerships, community engagement, and exhibition / publication outcomes, and have allowed us to create opportunities not only for ourselves but for participants and wider audiences.
Yes—though often in a collaborative context. Hefted to Hill was commissioned by Northern Heartlands as part of their Great Place Scheme. This project, developed with artist/philosopher Ewan Allinson and photographer Richard Glynn, explored themes of place, farming, and belonging in the North Pennines.
I was also commissioned by Durham County Council to produce Handworked—a project celebrating traditional craft in the region. Developed in collaboration with fellow Wideyed member Nat Wilkins, it culminated in a site-specific installation at Killhope Lead Mining Museum.
In 2012, I joined the Nomadic Village residency in Wolsingham, County Durham—a temporary community of over 30 international artists working from camper vans and converted vehicles. Led by Austrian photographer Klaus Mähring in partnership with D6: Culture in Transit, the project invited direct public engagement and culminated in an outdoor exhibition on site.
I returned to Nomadic Village in 2013, this time in Cuges-les-Pins, France, as part of the Marseille Provence European Capital of Culture programme. This iteration partnered with artist duo Tadlachance to further explore mobile, site-responsive artistic practice.
In 2016, I took part in the Horse and Art Research Programme (HARP) in rural Hungary, a residency focused on the intersection of art, environment, and equine culture. I’m due to return to HARP in summer 2025 as part of its 10th anniversary programme.
Email: louise@wideyed.org
Address: 4 Park Terrace, Tow Law, Bishop Auckland, County Durham, DL13 4NQ, GB
