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In partnership with Women for Refugee Women and Fast Forward: Women in Photography
Autograph have partnered again with Women for Refugee Women and Fast Forward: Women in Photography to deliver the second iteration of a creative mentoring programme, designed to support a group of women from refugee backgrounds to develop visual literacy skills and document their lives through photography and film.
Though none of the participants had any formal experiences in the arts prior to the project, they worked with visual activist, artist and educator - Aida Silvestri - as well as a host of different guest artists and speakers in order to devise and develop a new photographic project. Highlights from each of the participants' projects - collectively titled New Home: Our Resilience - are being displayed to the public on the Old Street Digital Canvas, and through Autograph's online gallery platform. Keep scrolling to find out more about the participants, as well as the different outcomes and achievements from the project.
This project is part of the programme Putting Ourselves in the Picture 2: Engaging with Industry, in partnership with Women For Refugee Women and Fast Forward: Women in Photography.
Catty
Eunny
DeeDee
Jannat
Elise
Memory
Over the course of the project, we worked with six participants from refugee backgrounds. They took part in eleven workshop sessions at Autograph, which introduced participants to new skills including: the use of analogue and digital photography; visual storytelling; lighting, composition and staging techniques. They also made a trip to Tiwani Contemporary, for an introduction to the gallery's collection and a tour of their exhibition with curator Adelaide Bannerman. Guest speakers and artists included: Bobby Lloyd, Anna Fox, Ali Eisa, Lois Olmstead, Khadijah Bint-Ahad, Josie Carter, Eileen Perrier and Cherelle Sappleton.
The group learned photography techniques and visual literacy skills
Supporting participant's development and creative confidence
Sharing the new work made with friends, family and invited guests
The project worked to address confidence and wellbeing within the LGBTQIA+ refugee community
Sharing works produced during the project, addressing issues of relationships, sexuality, migration and cultural identity
View
Works from the project are on display at Old Street Digital Roundabout from 3rd to 16th February 2025
Find out more
Sharing the women's projects, including portraiture and poetry
View
See some of the project work at this free outdoor display
Find out more 
Working with collage and composition
Working with cyanotypes
Project portfolio in progress
Documenting the project
Final project image: Elise, photographed by Memory
Final project image: Memory, photographed by Catty
Lighting and staging workshop
is an interdisciplinary artist, activist and educator of Eritrean descent who creates mixed-media artworks that challenge the status quo of stigma, prejudice and social injustice in relation to issues of race, class, identity and health, often combining text, image and experimental techniques to manipulate the photographic surface.
You can see more of Silvestri's work on the her website.
Purchase the publication resulting from the first iteration of the project
£25
This project was delivered in partnership with Women for Refugee Women, with support from Fast Forward: Women in Photography. The project is part of a wider collaborative programme that includes national partners: National Galleries of Scotland; Women for Refugee Women, London; Work Show Grow, London; Creative Response, Farnham.
Putting Ourselves in the Picture 2: Engaging with Industry is supported by the Arts and Humanities Research Council (grant number AH/Z505602/1), University for the Creative Arts and all their partners.
Banner image: Memory, Authentic [detail], from the series Wonder Woman, 2024. © and courtesy of artist.
Participant portraits made in collaboration with artist Aida Silvestri.
See more images: 1) Elise, We Are All Connected [detail], from the series Be the Change You Want to See, 2024. © and courtesy of artist. 2) DeeDee, Independent [detail], from the series Stress Upon Waiting, 2024. © and courtesy of artist.
Project images (left to right): 1, 2, 4, 5 and 7) Project images courtesy of Autograph. 3) Memory, Content With Who I Am, from the series Wonder Woman, 2024. © and courtesy of artist. 6) Elise, We Are All Connected, from the series Be the Change You Want to See, 2024. © and courtesy of artist.
Lead artist image: Courtesy Aida Silvestri.
Autograph is a place to see things differently. Since 1988, we have championed photography that explores issues of race, identity, representation, human rights and social justice, sharing how photographs reflect lived experiences and shape our understanding of ourselves and others.
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