Brendan Barry’s Regent's Park Portrait is a large-scale black and white photographic mural located on the end of terrace wall of Pangbourne flats, Stanhope Street. Through over sixty individual portraits and still life images, Brendan has created a stunning snapshot in time, celebrating the vibrancy and diversity of the people living and working across the estate.
Brendan invited residents to engage in the magic of photography through four hands-on processes. Firstly, from within a room-sized camera obscura, residents were captivated by the outside world as it was flipped upside down, dancing across the walls. Residents then posed for formal portraits (of themselves or of a special object) - captured by a unique camera created within a tiny repurposed kitchen. In an improvised darkroom residents then watched their images magically appear, many experiencing the spellbinding process of analogue photography for the very first time.
And finally, with imagination and boldness residents added vibrant colour to their black-and-white images. The coloured-in images were then compiled into a beautiful, handmade zine designed by Brendan.
‘What excites me most about this project are the human stories and communal ties in the individual photographs, which, when seen together, form a web of memory, experience, and personal histories that connect everyone. The ashes of Steve’s cat Big Bert, flowers picked by Sophia while walking through the estate, Chrissie’s grandmother’s figurine, a collection of items from Hannah’s father—each arrangement, object, or portrait is personal yet universal. They serve
as tangible connections to the stories, memories, and histories that define our lives. These objects are not mere artefacts, and these portraits are not just photographs; they embody the rich tapestry of a community’s narrative.’ - Brendan Barry
All the photos on this page were taken by Alice Horsley and Nick Turpin. Thank you very much for your brilliant work.
