And both having statues in the city? Give up? PHOTOGRAPHY Carrie and the city

CARRIE’S LORE

It wasn t e actly lo e at first sight when Carrie Hitchcock first came to ristol. uckily, we grew on her, and now she s produced a personal photographic map of the city in her new book, Bristol and Me: 1982-2002

“I suppose what I grew to love about the city were the people I met. It’s always been about the people, for me”

In Bristol, you’re rarely more than a mile and a week away from the next protest march. This is the 1997 St Werburgh’s Make a Noise for Narroways , which saved a much-loved local green space from being privatised and built on

ABOVE: 1990: Barton Hill youth centre nurtured the talents of Banksy, Inkie and 3D – and this young, moody-looking Jody OPPOSITE, CLOCKWISE: Anticipating motherhood, from the 1991 Unpaid Carers project; two photos taken as part of an investigation into children’s lives in the Barton Hill flats

We won’t hold it against her, we’re bigger than that; but when Carrie Hitchcock first arri ed in ristol in , she admits it wasn t lo e at first sight. In fact, she decided that it came a poor second to brace yourself ull. I only mo ed to ristol because my boyfriend li ed here, says arrie. I d been li ing in ull, working in community arts. I arri ed here not really knowing if I would stay, but I ended up ha ing children with said boyfriend, and years later I m still here. I didn t like the city to begin with. he music and arts scene had been much li elier and more inclusi e in ull and the north of ngland. cept for lifton and the on Gorge, the fabric of the city was not beautiful; the docks were derelict, and there was a four-lane road running through ueen uare. I suppose what I grew to lo e about the city were the people I met. It s always been about the people for me, so that s remained the same. he fabric of the city has changed a lot, and I e grown to lo e that too. he best thing about ristol for me now is that it s easy to get out of, and I don t need a car. If I cycle for about half an hour in any direction, I find myself in beautiful countryside. lso, I e always lo ed port cities; their openness and di ersity. he docks are the beating heart of ristol, both historically and today. hey re part of its ugliest history, but the ports created the city. he s well ualified to comment; one of her current obs on top of being a freelance photographer, she s a publisher, a graphic designer and a trainer in ol es piloting ferry boats up and down ristol arbour. arrie s first ristol home was in outh ille, which I liked because of its pro imity to walks along the on Gorge. I lo ed aston, where I li ed for years most of the time co ered in my book, Bristol and Me. here was a great community, and it s where we created our family. I knew most of my neighbours; shopkeepers, policemen, pastors, illains, druggies, children, parents and pensioners. I had some of the best neighbours you could ha e, and some of the worst. I felt at home in the area; it s a great place to li e. I lo e where I li e now, in t erburghs, where I was fortunate to be part of a group of people who built our own houses, creating our own community. ocated in the inner city, it feels rural, surrounded by allotments and woods. I e written a book about this too, The Story of the Yard; Building A Community. inally, I lo e that all these places are full of uirky, unusual people from all kinds of backgrounds, who ha e ended up in this city from all o er the world. arrie says that the reason she started taking pictures, e en as a child, was to locate herself in her surroundings. I mo ed around so much that it was important to me to record and locate, to map each home in my psyche. s I say in my introduction I want to make a physical representation of my mental and emotional map before mo ing on. ere was my home, this was my space, these were my friends, this is who I was.

“I’ve always loved port cities; their openness and diversity.The docks are the beating heart of Bristol”

ABOVE: Barton Hill Youth Centre, 1982. “All male, all white, with NF scrawled on the walls, it was calculated to upset my middle-class sensibilities“ RIGHT: ‘Practical skills for women’ at Bristol Women’s Workshop, 1991

It wasn’t until 1978 that Carrie got properly into photography, after borrowing a 35mm camera from a friend. “She took me into the darkroom and showed me how to process fi lm and print pictures. I was hooked; I thought it was magical. I loved the way the photograph would appear in the developer and the feeling of being secreted in this little womb-room.”

The photos Carrie took in the city span 20 years, from1982-2002. So why stop there? “I suppose it felt like the end of an era. I’d been working in Barton Hill, setting up and running the Barton Hill Photography Project, since shortly after arriving in Bristol until 1996. I continued teaching and freelancing for a few years after that, but by I d really fi nished with community arts. ince then I e built my own house in t erburghs, done an in photo ournalism, ualifi ed as a ferryboat skipper and run the education program for Bristol Ferry Boat Company.”

However, she seems to be compelled to keep making photobooks about her life and work. “Since leaving community arts, I have been undertaking documentary projects, sometimes commissioned, sometimes speculative. My children have grown up, I’ve had a break-up with my life partner, and both of my parents have died. My next book will cover that territory.” ■

Bristol and Me; 1982-2002 and The Story of t e r re il ble t rom r olfi i Bookshop and Better Food in St Werburghs Digital copies can be read at issuu.com