Rochester Art Gallery current exhibitions and workshops

Upon the High Street

Exhibition: Friday 27 October 2023 to Saturday 13 January 2024. Open every Tuesday to Saturday from 10am to 5pm.

Cost: Free.

About the exhibition

Upon the High Street is an ongoing photography project shot in collaboration by award-winning Medway-raised photographers Joshua Atkins and Daniel Loveday. The project captures the people and landscape of Chatham High Street and the surrounding area, celebrating the town's history and the diversity of its residents.

The photographs capture how the High Street is a continually adapting and changing environment, in the face of online retail and next-day delivery. The project looks to document the challenges faced by high streets across the country.

The two photographers make frequent trips to the area, where they engage with, photograph, and ultimately become intertwined with the lives of shoppers, workers, and residents. Through the repetition of these visits, a profound sense of shared experience emerges, solidifying their integration into the very heart of this ever-changing community.

“When you walk the same streets back and forth, you notice things you may not have picked up on before, like the historic building fronts or how the high street spaces are made of pockets of different communities. It's fascinating to both observe this and then document it from our two viewpoints, especially as the high streets across the UK rapidly evolve and adapt.”   Joshua Atkins and Daniel Loveday

A selection of the images featured in the Turner Contemporary Open. Joshua has previously won the British Journal of Photography’s ‘Portrait of Britain’ award and Daniel the Portrait of Humanity award.

You're invited to attend the exhibition preview evening and meet Daniel and Joshua on Thursday 26 October, 6.30pm to -8.30pm. Free, all welcome

You can also find out more about Rochester Art Gallery's current exhibitions.

Photograph taken by Joshua Atkins.

Photograph taken by Daniel Loveday.