Award-winning photographer Christian Sinibaldi and the 60 Miles by Rail or Road community, arts & heritage project have captured portraits of the people and personalities currently living on New Town estates in Northampton’s Eastern District. Presented in a state-of-the-art digital format at Northampton Museum & Art Gallery, audiences are invited to take a contemporary look at Northampton’s New Town legacy and what it means for residents today.
The collection, featuring over 200 portraits and capturing 190 residents across Northampton with their own voices and stories, will be available to view from Saturday 27th November until Friday 17th December 2021. The portraits, which capture residents outside their homes, shops, and community centres, will be accompanied by stories about their lives and the place they call home. The photographs, audio recordings and captions will be exhibited in a multimedia display with a three-wall projected design in the Main Hall of the newly refurbished Northampton Museum & Art Gallery. One of Sinibaldi’s photographs in the exhibition has been selected to appear at the acclaimed Taylor Wessing Photographic Portrait Prize 2021 exhibition currently being displayed at the National Portrait Gallery’s new hub at Cromwell Place until January 2022.
60 Miles by Road or Rail is an intergenerational arts and heritage project exploring and celebrating Northampton’s New Town heritage, including a documentary and theatre production at Royal & Derngate in September. The portraits were all taken in the Eastern part of Northampton, often referred to as the ‘Eastern District’, which was built as part of the New Town expansion of Northampton in the 70s and 80s after Northampton was designated a New Town in 1968 as part of the government’s New Towns Act (1946).
The project is supported using public funding by Arts Council England and National Lottery Heritage Fund.
Courtenay Johnson comments, I’ve been so blown away by peoples’ generosity in sharing their memories and experiences with us during this project. We ventured out across Northampton’s Eastern District meeting new people in their neighbourhoods; we’ve heard fantastic stories, eaten fresh tomatoes from Lou’s garden, been given photos from the 60s where fields can be seen instead of houses, had cuddles with tiny puppies (and much bigger puppies too!) as well as attending a few birthday parties. It’s been so incredible and it’s exciting to see it all come together at the museum.
Christian Sinibaldi comments, Thanks to this photography project and to the incredible support of local creatives; I managed to meet, talk and photograph over 150 people, unveiling an incredible array of stories. Each person we met dedicated some of their time and shared with us a bit of their personal journey. The Taylor Wessing Prize is recognised worldwide as the most important portrait photographic award. It is an incredible personal achievement to feature in the exhibition, made possible thanks to the collective effort of the artists involved in 60 Miles and the very friendly people of Northampton, who I feel very privileged to get to work with and I’m excited to share the full series of portraits in the heart of Northampton.
