PHOTOBREIGHTMET

Saturday 19 February to Saturday 23 April 2011

In November 2009, Bolton at Home's Neighbourhood Management Team (Bolton East) commissioned photographer Les Monaghan to spend six months in Breightmet as the Photographer in Residence.  Funded through Bolton at Home's Housing Percent for Art service, the photobreightmet exhibition brings together a selection of images produced during this time.

The aim of the project was to document the physical and social neighbourhood and the work of Bolton at Home in the Breightmet area.  The project also aimed to challenge perceptions of the neighbourhood among local residents and those from outside the area, and to reflect how residents see their environment, their community, and of their place within that community.

Residency

During the six months residency, Les engaged and worked with tenants and residents, schools, community groups and other agencies and organisations active within the Breightmet area. He ran photography workshops with children at the five primary schools that chiefly serve Breightmet. Upon entering the classroom he declares ‘Great Breightmet’ to be an independent country and announces himself president.

Passport to leave Breightmet!

Therefore, in order to leave Great Breightmet and re-enter the United Kingdom, each child must produce a passport.  As president, the artist decrees that the usual passport detail is not important and instead he needs information such as "What is your favourite smell?"; "Your favourite football team"; and "What do you want to be when you’re older?". These passports form one part of the exhibition.

The aspirations expressed by the children influenced the aspirations series of dads and kids portraits that form the final expression of the project.