Over the years, like many, the documentary photographer Tom Skipp began hearing more and more about food banks. Not only stats on their vastly rising usage, but, more disturbingly, comments from figures like the Tory’s deputy chairman Lee Anderson. In February of this year Anderson claimed that there is no “massive need” for food banks, and that people’s hunger simply comes down to people being unable to budget.

So, in collaboration with the Trussel Trust, Tom set himself on photographing the various food banks of his home city of Bristol, in the process raising awareness of the circumstances that have led to their increased presence.

Much like Tom’s Empty Community series from 2020 which focussed on dormant spaces during Covid, the images throughout focus predominantly on deserted interiors, rather than people. “I don’t want to point a camera at someone that’s using a food bank, feeding off their hunger,” says Tom. “I hope there’s power in the absence of people.” He instead lenses in on the many spaces like churches and community centres that provide such services. From wide shots of their slightly dated interiors; rows upon rows of empty chairs, large crosses on the wall, deflated balloons and streamers from a recent party, to close-up shots; packages of eggs dated for use-by with black marker pen, shelves stacked with tins, and leaflets giving advice on how to avoid loan sharks. This mismatch of multi-purpose usage highlights the absurdity of such spaces having to be used to provide people with their most basic necessities.