Outsiders

Outsiders is a documentary photography project, book and touring exhibition by Marc Davenant. The project aimed to capture a snapshot of homelessness in modern Britain over a six year period. The project was done in partnership with the charity Shelter and included environmental portraiture together with personal testimony from participants. It was a national project covering locations in London, Manchester, Glasgow, Newcastle, Brighton, Kent, Hertfordshire and Norwich. The project has recently been updated with new photographs and stories from the homeless tent encampment behind the Adelphi Building on the Strand in London.

“Though the images are beautiful, shot in black and white, they are intentionally provocative, sometimes haunting, and shockingly revealing of how people in marginalised communities are treated and expected to live” Creative Boom

“There’s a timeless feel to the pictures which echo Nick Hedges’ images of the housing crisis in the late 1960s and early ’70s taken for the Birmingham Housing Trust and for Shelter National Campaign for the Homeless” Amateur Photographer

“Looking at Marc Davenant’s portraits of homeless people living in the UK isn’t easy, but that’s the point. His stark black & white images might look like they were shot in the 1970s or 80s, but they depict the living conditions many are enduring right now. From London to Manchester and Glasgow, this project documents what it is like not to have a bedroom, a kitchen or a toilet -things that many of us take for granted” Black & White Photography Magazine

“The book is the result of six years working with those experiencing homelessness, building their trust and gaining their consent to be part of his project. The photographs are arresting, challenging cognitive fatigue about a social issue that is tangibly present on the streets of our cities” Irish Times

“These striking photos of homeless people show the reality of life on Britain’s streets” Big Issue

“Over the course of six years, he photographed the homeless on streets up and down the country and those that fall in between – the hidden homeless that are forced to live in homes unfit for human habitation” Daily Mirror

The book of the photography and testimony from the project is now available from Bluecoat Press https://bluecoatpress.co.uk and the dates and venues for the touring exhibition of photographs and stories from the project are:

Williamson Art Gallery, Birkenhead: 20 October to 23 December 2023 (now closed)

Upper Waiting Hall, Houses of Parliament: 8 January 2024 (now closed)

The Hub at St Mary’s, Lichfield: 23 March to 22 June 2024 (now closed)

Newcastle City Library, 10 July to 30 September 2024 (now closed)

Derby Cathedral: 10 October to 10 November 2024 (now closed)

St Albans Museum and Gallery: 17 January to 16 March 2025 (now closed)

Blackpool Central Library 14 April to 25 May 2025 (now closed)

The Workers Gallery, Ynyshir, Wales: 1 June to 31 August 2025 (now closed)

Cromer Artspace, Cromer, Norfolk 29 August to 14 September 2025 (now closed)

The Courtyard, Hereford 12 September to 3 November 2025 (now closed)

Street Level Photoworks, Glasgow 2 April to 17 May 2026 

The touring exhibition is open for booking from Autumn 2026 onwards and can be displayed in any museum, gallery or community space as long as free access is facilitated for those on low incomes.