Our House was an exhibition and book project that I curated about regeneration.

It featured my own work as well as photography by Shaw + Shaw, Liz Lock and Mishka Henner and Charlie Burns.

I was invited by The Lowry in Salford to stage an exhibition about my regeneration work in New Islington. I thought it might be interesting to extend the remit and see how other photographers were tackling the subject. And so, in the autumn of 2006 the exhibition and accompanying book, Our House, were launched. This is how the project was introduced:

‘It used to be called slum clearance, now it’s called regeneration. Tens of thousands of families across Britain are experiencing the largest re-housing programme since the 1960s. So what’s it like to be part of this brave new world? In Our House six photographers – including 15-year-old Charlie Burns – document stories of regeneration in Manchester, Salford and Tameside.’

Our House was shown at The Lowry, Salford Quays, between 23rd September–19th November 2006. It was supported by English Partnerships, the Arts Council and Urban Splash.

My part of the exhibition included a short film called, In the Middle of our Street, where I recorded people’s views of the terraced house. One wall of the exhibition space was covered with thousands of prints of terraced houses around Manchester, my homage to the quintessential northern house type.

Published by Len Grant Photography
ISBN: 978-0-9526720-4-3, £10
160 pages, softback
Designed by Victoria Spofforth and Alan Ward at Axis Graphic Design
With an essay by Phil Griffin
Available from Len Grant