Our Freedom opens at Southbank Centre

At the end of 2025 I was commissioned by Open Eye Gallery as part of a national project to work with communities as part of a programme of events to celebrate the 80th anniversary of the end of the second world war. This launched at Southbank centre in March 2026 before embarking on a nationwide tour to a selection of the arts centres involved.

More information about the project and selected works are here;

https://ourfreedom.org.uk/exhibition/photographer/jo-gane/

I was the commissioned photographer for the Midlands and worked with many artists, art galleries and organisations in the Midlands to explore what Freedom means in 2026 and to make photographs with people. Over three months I made over 100 tintype portraits on varied locations with people involved in the project.

Some of the organisations I worked with were;

Warwickshire Libraries
Grain
Knowle Royal British Legion
Arden Academy
Newhampton Art Centre
Burton Brewhouse
Brewing Heritage Trust, Burton

It was a huge privilege to meet and talk with everyone involved in this project, but especially veterans who fought in WW2.