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As part of the City of Culture 2025 being held in Bradford this year, ‘Nationhood: Memory and Hope’ is being displayed at the Impressions Gallery before touring the rest of the UK.
The outstanding collection of new photography celebrating the diversity of the UK in 2025 was curated by Anne McNeill, Director of Bradford’s Impressions Gallery, and opened at the start of the year to help launch Bradford 2025.
The centrepiece of the exhibition is The Necessity of Seeing, a major new collection of constructed images by Ethiopian photographer Aïda Muluneh. Shot through her surrealist lens at iconic locations in Bradford, Belfast, Cardiff and Glasgow, Muluneh’s new work reveals the overlooked stories, forgotten histories and quiet moments that shape who we are.
Also featured are striking new portraits by seven rising stars in UK photography including born-and-bred Bradfordians Shaun Connell and Roz Doherty, who spoke to the YEP about their delight at being a part of the exhibition.
Check out the gallery below of our pictures from the exhibition, which is being held in Bradford until April 26 before travelling to Belfast, Cardiff and Glasgow.
1. 'Nationhood: Memory and Hope'
Bradford 2025 exhibition 'Nationhood: Memory and Hope' is at the Impressions Gallery is a collection of new photography celebrating the diversity of the UK today. | Simon Hulme
2. 'Nationhood: Memory and Hope'
Curated by Anne McNeill, Director of Bradford’s Impressions Gallery, the centrepiece of the exhibition is The Necessity of Seeing, a major new collection of constructed images by Ethiopian photographer Aïda Muluneh. Shot through her surrealist lens at iconic locations in Bradford, Belfast, Cardiff and Glasgow, Muluneh’s new work reveals the overlooked stories, forgotten histories and quiet moments that shape who we are. | Simon Hulme
3. 'Nationhood: Memory and Hope'
First seen on billboards around Bradford in autumn 2024, the exhibition also presents A Portrait of Us, Muluneh’s potent black and white photographs of unsung community heroes from the same four cities. | Simon Hulme
4. 'Near the Cross'
The exhibition also showcases striking new portraits by seven rising stars in UK photography, including Bradford-based photographer Shaun Connell, whose collection 'Near the Cross 'pays tribute both to his Jamaican mother and the Windrush Generation | Simon Hulme
5. 'Near the Cross'
Shaun explained to the YEP that the pictures were taken over the last 10 years at the church that four generations of his family have attended - Bradford Central Seventh-day Adventist Church. He said: "The eight images really illustrate something that I hold dear to myself." | Simon Hulme
6. 'Near the Cross'
Shaun said: "For me church is about community first and foremost. "I tend to take pictures of the in between moments to show where the real human connection takes place. That was really important to me from a belief point of view but also in the context of the brief of 'Nationhood'." | Simon Hulme