Amber Meadow Well 2021 Portrait of a community
Maria Maza
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021 was an extraordinary year, as we all know. For me it was magical. After a year of lockdowns and isolation, this project meant I was able to slowly come out, rejoin society, leave the house and meet new people every week for the duration of the project. How lucky was I!
Many of these people are extraordinary and truly inspiring, and you have already met some of them in previous chapters. In this final instalment, I present you the rest of the portraits I took over my time in Meadow Well. Dedicated youth workers, community-hub shop owners, young people, families and business owners… Here is a snapshot in time of the varied and vibrant community of Meadow Well. Some of these wonderful individuals and families I got to know well and consider them friends, some just briefly crossed paths and were gracious enough to let me take their portrait and share a bit of their story. Again my deepest thanks to everyone who participated in this project, it was a real pleasure meeting you all.
Malcolm Fidler, working in his allotment
James Maholem
Phoenix Detached Youth Project The Phoenix Detached Youth Project is another great organisation at the heart of the community of Meadow Well, dedicated to improving young people’s lives in the area. They offer a huge range of activities, such as days out, as well as practical support, everything ranging from helping with bills, food or vehicles, to career advancement and well-being. Mike Burgess, PDYP’s Project Manager, has great, contagious energy and optimism, and will bend over backwards to help.
Here I documented a drop-in badminton session offered at The Parks, attended by this lovely group of siblings, Maryam, Kainat, Rahat and Rizwan, who gave Mike and Michael a good run around!
Tas Tas’s convenience store is not on Front St. anymore, and I know for certain everybody will be missing her. Her shop was a de-facto community hub, and people relied on her for all sorts of help. I did too, she was very generous with her time and put me in touch with people and supported the project enthusiastically. She would have liked her shop to have acted as a community art gallery, and at least during the time we were exhibiting Sirkka-Liisa Konttinen’s Interiors images in the area, that is exactly what it became.
Tasleem Akhtar with her daughters, Aksa and Hafsa
Families In a way, I wish I could have done more or less what Sirkka-Liisa Konttinen did back in 1981. It would have been fascinating to be able to go into the homes of Meadow Well residents and take family portraits. It would certainly have made for an interesting comparison, even if I could not photograph the same families forty years on. But alas, 2021 was not the year to do this. I was still very keen to meet families and hear their stories, but these meetings have taken place mostly outdoors. The only portrait I took of a family in their living room is from outside through an open window! In any case, it was a pleasure to meet all these families, and I am very grateful for their participation.
Emma Saint with her three boys
Linda Graham Linda has always lived in Meadow Well, Ridges born and bred, and has raised her family there. She knows everyone and is involved in her community. She is an endless source of local history and she has put this to great use: As part of a women’s writing group set up by Amber in the late 1980s, Linda was a team writer responsible for Dream On, a story about women in Meadow Well. Amber Films made it into a film in 1991, and we showed it online in April 2021 as part of our community engagement for the project. The writing group is still active and I look forward to reading their efforts in the future.
Far left: Elaine Graham with partner Benny Christiansen and their three children On this page: Linda Graham in her back garden, where her grandchildren are always welcome to play
Lisa Williams I met Lisa through her work at The Cedarwood Trust. She does community outreach and knows everyone, so she introduced me to many people. She helped look for families who would like to participate in the project and perhaps be photographed, and as the great sport that she is, she volunteered herself and her daughters for this. With strict lockdown rules in place, I simply could not go into their home. Lisa had the brilliant idea of photographing from outside through the window. A bit different! Our timing could have been better, though. Early Friday evening, everyone was tired after a busy week. Katie, the youngest, simply could not help it and fell asleep. I didn’t mind, I was capturing something real, and the resulting image is very sweet.
The Redburn Sharon Craig is The Redburn’s pub landlady, and one of the people that Lisa Williams put me in touch with. I came in to photograph her in the pub, as well as some of her friends and family. She sadly talked about how the business had suffered because of the pandemic, but they were optimistic things would pick up eventually. The pub was quiet in the early afternoon, but the family was cheery, full of love and laughter.
To the left: Glynis Kermode and Sharon’s daughter Kate Ohalleron To the right: Sharon Craig with grandson Luke
All photos ©Maria Maza 2021