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THE REGENCY PROJECT
We were delighted to host 'The Regency Project' a photographic essay
by Richard Rowland from 19 October – 7 November 2007.
Full details below.
The Regency Project is a photographic essay by Richard Rowland
exploring the three-year refurbishment, by the Brighton Housing Trust (BHT), of a Grade
11 listed building that provides accommodation for fifty-five homeless men.
Rowland’s photographs do not attempt a comprehensive record of the building work.
He steps back from the process of structural transformation in search of what the building
might reveal or suggest as it is systematically taken apart and then remade. And, importantly,
he has chosen to place the experiences of the residents at the centre of his work.
For Rowland the building process was as much an excavation as it was a renovation,
both in the uncovering of a material past in bricks and mortar and in the releasing
of long forgotten atmospheres, as though the house itself had in some way absorbed
the memories and experiences of people who had stayed and lived in its rooms over
generations.
In this Rowland’s work suggests the passage of history in one small corner of
Brighton. It offers a thoughtful counterpoint to the city’s current prosperity and
its familiar image as a place of dreams and aspirations.
A book, The Regency Project, including 56 colour and black and white photographs and an
essay by David Chandler, has been published to coincide with this exhibition. Hardback,
240 x 200mm, 88 pages, ISBN 978-0-9557022-0-4. Price £15
www.richardrowland.co.uk
The exhibition was funded by the Heritage Lottery Fund and was supported by Lighthouse.
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