For this series, Yuxi explored her history through photographs of her mother and grandmother in their respective youths. She explained that she found fascinating this juxtaposition between two traces: her grandmother’s young photo and the wrinkles on her hand while holding it.

Thinking about ‘Belonging’ Janet confessed she found it hard in the beginning to match this subject to what she observed around her during the photo walk. Yet after a while, she started thinking about how squirrels belong in the park and more broadly outside, which in turn made her reflect on how everything has its place and timing in nature, everything belonging to a place and moment.

Throughout our photographic workshops, Yuxi returned, constantly, to her family when exploring the themes of our sessions. Whether her sister, grandparents, brother, or mother, her subjects were more often than not people from her daily interactions. In her words, she finds it fascinating how different families and cultures approach celebrations and deal with grief, as well as the intergenerational attitudes towards more domestic materialities, such as the food available in the UK, objects her siblings and grandparents bring with them while traveling, etc.

Mohammed talked to us about his decision to photograph the Christmas lights and decorations in town for the weekly theme of familiar - unfamiliar. As someone not originally from a country that is predominantly Christian, he expressed in his photos how these associations are deeply personal in that one person’s familiar may be someone else’s unfamiliar.

The house in the image above has a special significance for Rita. This house was the first house owned by her parents as well as the house in which she grew up and as such inspires many memories every time Rita revisits it. Rita continues to own and rent this property to other tenants observing how the community in the area has shifted. She remembers the neighborhood of Hyson Green as always being one of the first neighborhoods where migrants would move to when coming to Nottingham, but also notices how the generations of migrants she was part of have moved out of the area while subsequent waves of migrants from different countries have replaced them.

Yuxi talked to us about her grandma’s reluctance to be photographed due to her perceived inability to pose. While explaining to us that her grandmother is positively shocked at finding apples near their accommodation, being surprised by the fact that no one claims them, Yuxi goes on to notice that she never has to make her grandma pose while she picks up apples, because this harvest simply makes her radiate happiness and satisfaction.

Marcin spoke to us about the unexpected things he finds on the streets during photowalks. He took the photo of two doors side-by-side with the same number, questioning how the mailman differentiates between the two flats, and reflects on how he finds these things that stick out quite ‘unfamiliar’.

Friends from childhood, her father always wearing a suit to look professional and put together, the way to the former school she used to attend, and the park that has since transformed (partly) into a parking lot - these are just some of the memories that Rita remembered while revisiting the house in which she grew up in Hyson Green.

Playing on the theme of ‘Inclusion - Exclusion’ Elaine confessed that sometimes she finds a change of perspective helpful in assessing and representing this heavy antithesis and as such proceeded to exemplify this in the pairing of the images here.

Marcin decided to photograph shipping containers as well as a van as examples of different mobile spaces which have utility outside of just moving objects and individuals around - in contrast to simpler modes of traveling such as a bike.

While taking photos for our weekly theme (this time looking at family) Janet explained to us that she couldn’t help but think of family trees, ancestry and intergenerational dynamics that come into play in one’s larger family.

Yuxi recounts that apples are not the only harvest her grandma is interested in, as she tells us that another surprise her relative experienced when coming to UK is the lack of a variety of fruit and vegetables in the markets and shops and the tendency she has to pack different spices or hard to find cooking items when visiting her granddaughter.

In this series, Janet explained to us that while exploring the theme of ‘Journeys’ she started playing around with a less human-centric perspective. In her words, she did this by thinking about it in simple terms (going from a point ‘a’ to a point ‘b’) she came to realise that all things around us take journeys whether short or long, especially in the globalised society of which we are part.

Oliver told us that for the weekly theme of ‘Familiar-Unfamiliar’ he really wanted to photograph the Nottingham Train Station, as this is a place he knew well as a child and which has changed a lot over the years. Through its expansion, the building of a tram nearby, and general modernisation, this station comes to represent for him an un- canny familiarity, a familiar turned unfamiliar.

These are just a few of the photos that stood out to me when I'm talking about my family journey you can see a range of my nieces and nephews and my kids there. A picture of my godfather and a picture of my kids godfather. These are people that I have looked up to and people that look up to me.

The theme of community took me back to Hyson Green in which I used to live for thirteen years. After looking at the things I focused on when walking round this very familiar area I realised the theme of frayed edges and Urban decay seemed to be coming into my work. When I reflect on this I realise that of course it would after years of Austerity, the impacts of which are so much worsened by the pandemic. During our workshop discussion I realised I was focusing a lot on buildings and facilities that were once thriving and very important in the context of community and that these buildings are now shut down, or sold off, and so they have peeling edges and layers of dust gathering. However, as a former resident of Hyson Green, I have always felt a strong sense of belonging in an area of constant flux. People are always coming and going here, students, immigrants, young couples, families out growing the area and there is a long tradition of that occurring in the area.

Sandra spoke to us about the urban landscape of Hyson Green as she cannot think of communities without thinking of the changes they have brought on the local High Street. Sandra explained to us how a neighbourhood is shaped by its locals in more than one way, and how the products and services available are also reflective of the people moving in and out of an area.

'My life is like this “ Time, you old gypsy man, will you not stay put up in your caravan just for one day” poetry by Ralph Hodgson. I am moving from one country to another, One house to another, One memory to another. I am a caravan like water hyacinth.’

Marcin addressed the theme of journeys by focusing on different transport vehicles (most of them being photographed on film during our photo walk on the High Street). Added to this he also spoke about the cyclicity of nature and how weather transitions from one season to another on a continuos journey in time.

Fola expanded on her previous stories about about Hyson Green and its communities as part of her history by explaining to us that she felt really lucky and blessed to have found the Sunday Church and the Vine Community Centre. She added that she felt she was instantly accepted by these groups. She considers the people she has met here as her family and vital contributors to her journey.

Fola told us the story of her coming to UK and how she will always consider Hyson Green as an important part of her history due to the lasting quality connections she has established while living here as well as the local communities that made her transition easier.

Marcin explained for us how he made the association between these lights at a pedestrian crossing and the theme of ‘welcome unwelcome’. He told us that he saw the signs in terms similar to commands such as ‘stay / go / leave’ and that this made him think of the current political context, specifically Brexit in UK and it’s impact on the expat and migrant communities here.

Here Marcin addressed the theme of welcome / unwelcome through an exploration of the neighbourhood’s typography and traffic signs.

For this theme, Fola told us about how she took these photos while visiting a new place and this made her think of ‘Hellos’ along with the open horizon, sunshine and summer vibes.

Sandra photographed a number of sites across Hyson Green. She spoke to us throughout the series about how she spent most of her life in this neighbourhood and has seen it changed through the years. She told us about how she remembers different places like the stores on the high street changing owners and products or services, being closed down, and reopened, shaping the local landscape in the process. She spoke about how she finds the duality of this process a good metaphor for our familiar-unfamiliar juxtaposition.

Gosia spoke to us about her decision to photograph her family in the park as she explained that with her children being really active, they end up spending a lot of family time in the parks around West Bromwich and Birmingham. She told us about how she’s passionate to capture her children’s emotions without asking them to pose (as she considers this produces an artificial response that’s recognisable in photography) and as such she tends to get them engaged in different games of imagination to provoke a more authentic reaction she can capture.

Gosia explained that to address the theme of ‘My history’ she photographed some of West Bromwich’s easily recognisable spots. She explained that she finds the High Street to be one of them since she ends up with some errands at least a few days each week. Since she lives in this area for years now, she considers this street along with other spots including around the clock tower to be part of her history.

Francesco responded to our weekly theme of ‘familiar-unfamiliar’ by photographing a cup of cappuccino, explaining this is the most familiar thing he could think about. He shot this and a pizza dough going in the oven in a little restaurant that blends Italian and Moroccan cuisine and was opened by an immigrant who spent half his life in Morocco and half his life in Italy. Francesco explained the most refreshing thing about it is that the coffee it’s really good!

Francesco explained to us that while on our photowalk he took pictures of people he felt might have belonged to each other in one way or another; people walking with a connection or a connection to their shadows. He explained that he really enjoyed the patterns created by the shadows and that you can argue a shadow always belong to something or someone.

Anna showed us briefly a photo of our group at one of the photography workshops. She told us she sees our group as a little community in itself since we are people sharing something in common, liking each other and this activity and opting to spend time together. In her opinion, these are all essential things in defining any group as a community.

On the theme of 'My History', Alishah spoke to us about how she used to spend a lot of time in parks and nature in general when she was younger, as her nan used to take her there. Alishah also emphasized how she translated this into her current life, still taking walks in the parks, these days, to relax and recharge.

Alishah told us how for the theme of familiar-unfamiliar she decided to photograph a motorcycle rider on the street. She spoke about her older sister buying and riding a motorcycle and how she looks up to her. She also told us that motorcycles and cars bring back memories of her childhood and her relationship with her father, for whom she was ‘the right hand woman’ every time they would be doing any DIY on the family’s car.

I took this photo at the entrance of the Public Library in West Bromwich. For me, the many different small pieces which make the mosaics represent the diversity of places like West Bromwich, their openness to different languages and cultures in the public space and the intricate tapestry that all these diverse tokens of belonging form together.

I once heard the following quote from a Bulgarian diplomat: 'The migration of aspiration will never stop.' After travelling so much and encountering people from different countries and from different ways of life, I am convinced of the truthfulness of these words. Birds and their journeys each year make me reflect on the journeys we undertake in search of warmer lands, more hospitable places, more beautiful views, etc.

Being able to practice one's religion in a new place is an important aspect of feeling that one belongs. The beauty of this church and the summer sky above it makes me feel happy and less anxious about any new beginnings.

I took this photo in Bath after my graduation ceremony. It stands for a place which made me feel that I belonged and which has given me many opportunities to engage with the local community, interact with local people and enjoy activities in the British nature.

I see romantic feelings and relationships take us on inner journeys. The way the woman in the photo is leaning on the man's shoulder brings back memories of journeys, people and places that even time cannot erase from my memory. It also reminds me of a book title I used to love when studying at Cardiff University and which I would often borrow from the library just to have at my place - 'The Politics of Touch'.

When I was younger my parents bought me a clock in the shape of the Eiffel Tower for my birthday because they knew how much I wanted to one day go there and visit it. I was looking at the clock wondering when the time will come for me to go there and visit. I even dreamed of studying there. Today, my dream has come true and I cannot help noticing what a long journey it has been to get where I am today.

Anna spoke about the theme of 'Hellos', for which she decided to photograph charity shops -- more specifically their entrances. She explained to us that for her the entry in a charity shop is always followed by 'Hello'. She spoke about how for her, charity shops are the most common place in the UK where people come to help others, to volunteer, donate, to raise money, etc. She thinks about entering a charity shop as a great opportunity to meet nice, friendly, good-hearted and like-minded people. She sees interactions here as great ways of bridging a 'Hello' to a friendship later down the road.

Alishah told us that in response to the theme of 'welcome / unwelcome' she photographed some mangos at the local market. She explained that in traditional South Asian cuisine these fruits are often used in food making and this always makes her think of her mother cooking for the family, which in turn she associates with a feeling of being welcome. At the opposite end she finds a disused phone box as very unwelcoming -- full of filth and grime.

Gosia explained to us that she sees 'Hellos' as something very positive and as such she connects it to sunshine and vitality. She goes on to detail that here ('in the UK') 'hellos' are almost always followed by 'How are you?' another thing that, despite being seen by some as something superficial, she genuinely finds nice. She also recalls that back home people are a lot more tempted to complain or be blunt as an answer to the same question, a thing that can become tiring.

Anna explains that for her the fact that many abandoned buildings have an open door or entrance is something she symbolically associates with feeling welcome while at the same time the state of the buildings themselves gives her a feeling of being unwelcome. This paradox is what made her choose these spaces.

Francesco told us the first thing he photographed addressing the theme of 'Hellos' was a red phone box outside the West Bromwich Library. He told us how back when he was young, these were the first things that came to anyone's mind when saying 'Hello'. He remembered how he phoned his family and girlfriend at the time, while studying in Milan, away from his hometown in southern Italy. He recalls this as his first 'migrant' experience as even though it was more of an internal migration (within the borders of the same country) he perceived the north of Italy as very 'unwelcoming' and as such made an effort to phone home daily. He also remembers very well the north-south divide as the Northern League party back when he was a student was also pushing for splitting these regions. He told us he associates the phone box with connection and he recalled the time he received his first 'unlimited' phone box card from a friend in Sicily.

Definitely unwelcome here.

Hope sign in West Bromwich, to make people feel welcome

Fruit seller in West Bromwich welcoming customers.

The Library reception welcomes readers.

Alishah took a picture of a whole store based on cultural foods from Poland. She said "I think it’s so cool, I think it’s so great that something like that exists, because it connects you to where you are, wherever you are."

A very important element of living in England is the diversity and tolerance of differences in who we are and what we look like. This freedom of choice is welcome to me.

A symbol of British culture turned into a garbage can. This abandoned red telephone box looks like a sign of disrespect for tradition and a lack of commitment to the city's image. You look at it and ask- why they don't care?

Language social club. It was 2011, I came to the UK with the hope of learning the language. This social club hosted weekly English lessons for Polish people, conducted by a Polish teacher.

A prominent meal in British culture is fish and chips. You can easily find a fish and chips shop in every neighbourhood.

I think the pub is an indispensable part of British people’s life, attracting people of from all walks of life. The regular moment in the pub makes them feel refreshed and relieved. I realised that what attracts people to head into the pubs is not only the alcohol and the food but also the incomparably talkative and relaxing atmosphere.

Puffed rice is one of my husband's childhood food memories.You can buy it at one of the Polish shops in West Bromwich. He ate it often during school lunch breaks. The taste of this puffed rice, these food memories, help him connect and feel that he belongs. These memories take him to a happy place, right back to his childhood in Poland.

This has become my favourite lunch box. My first trip to the UK with a one-way ticket was by bus. I couldn't afford a plane flight. It was almost a 30-hour journey. I didn't take much with me. I didn't know how to take such a long bus trip, so in order to avoid motion sickness I only took something light to eat - rice waffles, carrots and a few slices of peppers. To this day I remember how the taste of this food made my journey easier.

A complicated road led me to the place where I am today. I worked in the production hall making meat and vegetable skewers, preparing boxes for airplanes and checking foam cushions for car seats. I remember I started my journey to the UK with a faith that hard work was going to pay off. The photo shows my first workplace where, as a sociology student, after graduating, I wanted to earn some extra money before my master's degree. I spent a few months there. Eventually this plant was shut down last year, memories will remain. Today I can see how colourful this place was. I look and smile - it was a hard time, full of aching muscles and a feeling of fatigue, but also beautiful - I started to go my own way - free, independent, with a head full of dreams. A lot has happened since then but my journey continues.

I remember when I first came to England in 2011, no-one except Polish and Latvian people celebrated Women’s Day. One English woman from my first job didn’t know about the day. 10 years later, her husband gives her flowers on this day every year, because he knew from her Polish colleagues that it’s Women’s Day.

Running after an umbrella, broken by the wind and soaked in the rain, and looking for sunglasses at the same time. The British weather is so unpredictable. It was new to me to deal with it, as well as learning to talk about it. One of the most basic topics of conversation is the weather so it was the perfect way to start a conversation with stranger and exchange greetings.

During the latest workshops as we looked at the development of personal style in photography and the impact of light on it, Gosia developed a series of photos addressing the theme of 'Journeys' and incorporating warm bright light. She talked to us about how she associates this theme particularly with the beginning of her life as a migrant in the UK, a time when she and her partner used to take every chance they could to travel and explore.

While we looked at how light impacts a photographer's personal style and explored the theme of 'Journeys', Alishah choose to do a series of photographs documenting her commute to work interlaced with images of the development of spring in nature. She explained that for her the recurrence of patterns and cycles in nature (like the phases of the moon and the passing of seasons) represents another way of thinking about journeys and time.

2021 was special for me - it brought huge changes, new challenges, tears of joy and tears of sadness, I am happy as ever, but also I was afraid like never before… I became a mother, I started my own family in exile, away from my relatives...I'm starting my first long term project - ‘She’. It let me keep memories close by while also documenting the changes as they happened. Documenting everyday life, I understood that the place where my daughter grows up is her place, that she is 'at home'. Thanks to this, I finally found an answer to the question that bothers me - where do I belong? I finally felt part of the place where I live. My family builds its own history here in the UK, we cherish Polish family traditions, but also create new, unique, our own.   The photo shows her planting a raspberry bush with her father. For me it is a metaphor of putting down roots, a long term project which keep us longer.

Gosia and Szymon described how the church made them feel welcome because the Polish mass showed that there was a community of Polish-speakers in West Bromwich.

As we explored objects and photographic compositions that made us think of 'My history', Bianca choose to photograph a pressed flower in a book. She said she took multiple shots of this flower during the day as the object made her remember a gift she once received from someone which is much-cherished.

When talking again about what made our participants feel welcomed and unwelcomed in UK, Szymon confessed to us that the trash he often sees in the city, on the side of the roads, in cul-de-sacs or at the corner of the street is something he finds quite sad and hard to understand. He always found this quite unwelcoming, as it was not something he saw in his home city and was not something that he expected to find here.

When we asked participants to photograph what makes them feel welcomed and unwelcomed after coming to UK, Szymon described how the grass maintaining it's green hue throughout the winter always made him feel welcomed here. In many temperate continental countries, when the cold weather bites hard, the grass turns yellow.

On the theme of welcome/unwelcome, Gosia took photos of the doubledecker buses the she saw after first arriving in the UK. These felt welcoming to her as they confirmed her expectations of what she would find in this country.

During the fifth workshop we addressed the theme of 'Family'. I chose to photograph the front of a shop featuring a large banner with the name 'Homeland'. I think I made this choice due to my experience as a migrant and my parent's reluctance to even visit me in my 'adoptive country'. For this reasons I will always keep a strong association between my homeland and my family, I think.

Mohammed told us how he finds the interior of public buses very welcoming because they keep everyone safe and together no matter your background or walk of life, and because you can meet random people and start nice conversations.

In the session last week, we looked at composition, rule of thirds and patterns. This picture was taken in West Bromwich markets. In the midst of all the hustle I noticed a small bird. It was a very scenic moment that contrasted the surrounding environment.

The items in the composition combine personal memories with "bigger" histories - e.g., the end of the GDR (which ran "out of time"). The items on the table are all gifts of different kinds, or mark special events: a watch from my school friends (which stopped at 5 to 12), a German translation of Shakespeare left behind by a colleague, a DDR number plate given to me by a student, a cork from a PhD viva celebration, and mini gin bottles from my 40th birthday (during the pandemic).

Do you like taking photographs? Are you from Central Europe and living in Hyson Green? Would you like to learn more about photography in a free workshop series? Would you like to take photographs of your local community and see those photographs in a virtual and physical exhibition? If the answer is yes, yes, and yes, then Post-Socialist Britain needs you! We are looking for participants to take part in a photography workshop series running on Saturdays between September 2022 and February 2023 in New Art Exchange in Hyson Green. During the workshops you will be instructed in photography techniques by professional photographer Oxana Bischin. You will take photographs of objects, buildings and places in your local community that are important to you and share your photographs and stories with the workshop group. The material produced in the workshops will inform our research on the relationship between memory, migration and community. Your photographs will be shown in a virtual exhibition on our project website. A live physical exhibition, based on your photographs and descriptions, will be designed by an Artist in Residence at our project partner, Centrala. The exhibition will be displayed in Birmingham and Nottingham. Workshop places are limited, so sign up now! Central European Photography Club Tickets The workshop series is open to everyone, whether you have lived in Hyson Green your whole life, or have moved there recently from another country. For more information, please contact: Oxana Bischin on postsocialistbritain@gmail.com