22 photographers to celebrate freedom in a national programme of creative projects

Open Eye Gallery, Socially Engaged Photography Network and Future Arts Centres are working together to bring 22 photographers across the UK to work alongside a national programme of community events and creative projects throughout 2025, celebrating the 80th anniversary of the end of the Second World War. 

Future Arts Centres, supported by the UK Government through Arts Council England and in partnership with Libraries Connected, are leading Our Freedom: Then and Now a programme of community-led artistic projects taking place in 60 arts centres and libraries across the UK, running from May – November 2025.

There will be a mix of activities, from nationally commissioned work to community lunches and street parties, some of which will be spread over the following 12 months. The UK Poet Laureate Simon Armitage has also produced a new poem which acts as the centrepiece of the Our Freedom: Then and Now project – which many of the communities are using as inspiration to inform their own projects.

Open Eye Gallery has recruited a diverse range of photographers from the members of our Socially Engaged Photography Network to creatively document the communities and venues who make up each local project. Each photographer will respond to the context of each place, whilst bringing their own style and personality to the work. The final photographs will act as a visual legacy for the whole programme and will be presented digitally and through physical exhibition in spring 2026.

We are proud to announce our photographers for the commission: Sam Ivin, Karina Lax, Joanna Coates, Abby Poulson, Audrey Albert, Tadhg Devlin, Rosie Barnes, Marysa Dowling, Emma Case, Seema Khalique, Chad Alexandra, Andy Fell, Sophie Ellen, Johannah Churchill, Jo Gane, Carole Evans, Leticia Valderdes, Alicia Bruce, Anneleen Lindsay and Sally Barton, as well as early career MA socially engaged photography students at the University of Salford, Anoosh Ariamehr and Yaqeen Amir, who will be collaborating on a project for the first time. 

Gallery images by: Anneleen Lindsay, Alicia Bruce, Sam Ivin, Johannah Churchill, Sophie Ellen, Carole Evans, Leticia Valderdes, Karina Lax, Jo Gane, Rosie Barnes, Andy Fell, Anoosh Ariamehr, Tadhg Devlin.

Annabel Turpin, Co-Director of Future Arts Centres, said: “This campaign is about more than remembrance. It’s about giving our British communities the chance to define what freedom means to them, in their words, voices, and art.”

She continued: “The campaign aims to celebrate the role of public spaces, which are not only cultural venues but also safe spaces for communities. Where we are from is part of our identity. It’s a place of mutual understanding and pride, a space for both the new and the old, where traditions are formed and history can endure.”

The use of local libraries, art centres, and community centres as platforms for Our Freedom: Then and Now highlights the significance of these accessible, everyday spaces, which serve as vital threads in the UK’s cultural fabric. They are places where people have the freedom to express their thoughts and where creativity, dialogue and connection can flourish.

Full programme at ourfreedom.org.uk.