Regent’s Park Estate

Through a series of hands-on, community-centred workshops, pop-up events, and studio and darkroom sessions, Brendan engaged a diverse range of residents from across the estate in a variety of analogue photographic and image-making processes, creating a fully immersive, collaborative, and participatory experience for all involved.

The core of Brendan’s practice has been to share the enchantment of the photographic process and captivate participants with the magic of photography. Residents were invited to take part in four distinct stages. The first stage introduced them to the experience of being inside a room-sized camera obscura, where they became part of the camera itself. Through a small window of light, the outside world was flipped upside down and projected into the room, allowing participants to see a dynamic series of reflections—moving trees, cars, bicycles, and people—swirling, tracing, swaying, and bouncing across the walls, ceiling, and even the hands and faces of the participants.

The next stage involved creating ‘formal’ portraits. Residents posed as Brendan, operating a series of hatches and switches from within a customised, repurposed kitchen-camera, gave the countdown. With a bright pop of light, their images were captured. For those who preferred not to be photographed, residents were invited to bring an object or heirloom that represented them, their family, or their memories of living on the estate.

Brendan also spent time wandering the estate with residents, gathering wildflowers and weeds. These were arranged in vases in front of the camera and photographed, further enriching the project’s connection to the local environment and community.

The final stage of the photographic journey immersed participants in the ambient red light of the darkroom. With a sheet of photographic paper, trays of chemicals, and a few moments of waiting, an image gradually emerged, much to the awe (and sometimes disbelief) of the residents – many of whom, having only ever experienced the digital world of photography, had never witnessed this analogue apparition before. 

After the portraits were developed, a series of workshops followed where participants added colour, life, and vitality to the photographs using a variety of techniques. The results were rich and wild with colour, vibrant, cosmic, dynamic and energetic. Sometimes subtle, sometimes anything but. Each one transformed by the hands and minds of the people who live on the estate who so generously gave their time and creativity to the project.

The project culminated in two final outcomes. The first was a printed zine, offering a platform to celebrate the collaboration between Brendan and the residents, showcasing the wild and wonderful colour images created together. The second was a large-scale mural, measuring 6.2 x 7.7 meters, installed on the side of one of the blocks of flats on Stanhope Street. Printed on a special adhesive vinyl that moulds to the building's surface, the mural incorporated 72 portraits and still lifes—taken of, but made with, the residents of The Regent’s Park Estate—serving as a vibrant and intimate portrait of the community.