'Turning Green to Brown'

Selected portraits of people in Sefton Park Meadows
Exhibition of photographs by John Davies
5th July to 10th August 2014
On show at 3 venues across Liverpool: Quaker Meeting House, Unit 51 Coffee and The Old Police Station

John Davies has an international reputation for his B&W photographs of dramatic urban landscapes but during May this year he decided to make a series of colour portraits of people who are regular visitors to Sefton Park Meadows in Liverpool.

On average he spent 1½ hours a day for 10 days in the public green space of the Meadows. He stopped and asked a total of 112 adults if he could take their picture. 96 people agreed to have their portraits made and be included in an exhibition about the Meadows. Many people, who may have otherwise refused to have their picture taken, were positive because their image might help promote awareness of the potential loss of these ancient and valued Meadowlands.

A selection of these portraits will be on exhibition in three locations throughout the city to coincide with the Biennial.

Sefton Park Meadows

The Mayor of Liverpool is proposing to sell off Sefton Park Meadows for executive housing. This is an example of what is happening in local authorities throughout England: assets sold off and services cut to meet the requirements of central government’s austerity measures.

When first publicised by Liverpool City Council in March 2013 the Meadows were described as ‘incidental open space – surplus to requirements’. The Council then received a record number of over 1,200 written objections with an additional petition of 7,257 signatories against the disposal of this public green space. Since then there has been an ongoing campaign to stop the proposed sale. In the recent May elections, in wards closest to the Meadows, Green Party candidates who campaigned to save the Meadows defeated Labour Party candidates.

Public opinion is very much in favour of retaining Sefton Park Meadows as public green open space and against the sale of the Meadows for an ‘exemplar’ housing development – especially given the abundance of brown-field sites throughout the city and the Council ignoring it’s own policies of protecting green space.

It is expected that plans to develop the Meadows will be decided at a Council planning committee by September. The sale of Sefton Park Meadows is dependent on a successful planning application.

Venue Information

Quaker Meeting House, 22 School Lane, Liverpool L1 3BT (next to Bluecoat Centre)
Open Monday to Friday 9:00am-5:00pm & 6:00-10:00pm

Unit 51 Coffee, Baltic Creative, Jamaica Street, Liverpool L1 0AF
Open daily 8:30am-5:30pm or later

The Old Police Station, 80 Lark Lane, Liverpool L17 8UU – (front entrance)
Open Thursday to Sunday 12:00am-6:00pm.

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