A distinguished photographer and academic from Coventry University has won the Portrait of Britain Award for creating powerful insights into homelessness.
Widely recognised for his extensive contributions to socially engaged art, Associate Professor Anthony Luvera’s winning photograph, Assisted Portrait of Mauvette Reynolds, has been acknowledged by the British Journal of Photography for its raw and real exploration of the lives of people facing homelessness.
Anthony, who is a researcher in the university’s Centre for Arts, Memory and Communities, has had his work exhibited in institutions and festivals around the world, receiving widespread acclaim for its impactful engagement with societal issues that are often overlooked.
The award-winning portrait is part of Anthony’s large body of work titled Construct, a project centred around the lives and experiences of more than 50 people facing homelessness in Birmingham.
Commissioned by GRAIN Projects, an arts organisation dedicated to facilitating high-quality photography projects, in collaboration with SIFA Fireside, a charity that supports homeless people, the Construct project has been ongoing since 2018.
Anthony said: “I have worked with people experiencing homelessness to address issues of housing justice for over two decades. I’m interested in working to enable people with lived experience to amplify their points of view about the systems and services that shape their everyday lives.
“To see the Assisted Self-Portrait of Mauvette Reynolds from Construct recognised by the British Journal of Photography through their Portrait of Britain award is a meaningful validation of the co-creation of this work with Mauvette and the many other people who have experienced homelessness that have participated in my work over the years.”
Anthony immersed himself in the community, working alongside SIFA Fireside’s staff, participating in kitchen activities, and building relationships with homeless people for over a year before setting up photography workshops to teach them how to use photography equipment. They were then given cameras to capture their unique experiences and perspectives.
Even during the challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic, Anthony continued the project through online workshops and conversations.
He incorporated assisted self-portraits into the project, a process by which each person can choose where, when and how they appear in a photograph, working closely with people in meaningful locations to create powerful and personal imagery.
His winning portrait serves as just one poignant example of the narratives captured throughout the project, which is currently being showcased across the UK on digital screens in various public spaces, including bus shelters, rail stations, shopping centres and Heathrow Airport.
Construct made its debut exhibition in Snow Hill Square and Snow Hill train station in central Birmingham. The culmination of the project will be presented in a full publication scheduled for release in March 2024.
Find out more about Construct.
Anthony Luvera is a socially engaged photographer and academic within the Centre for Arts, Memory and Communities at Coventry University. His work has been exhibited widely in galleries, public spaces, and festivals, including Tate Liverpool, The Gallery at Foyles, the British Museum, London Underground’s Art on the Underground, National Portrait Gallery London, Belfast Exposed Photography, Australian Centre for Photography, PhotoIreland, Malmö Fotobiennal, Goa International Photography Festival, Les Rencontres D’Arles Photographie, Oslo Negative, and Landskrona Foto Festival. He is the editor of Photography For Whom?, a periodical about socially engaged photography, and Chair of the Education Committee at the Royal Photographic Society.
