HARD TIMES - AN AWARD-WINNING EXHIBITION

A LANDMARK PHOTOGRAPHY PROJECT BY AWARD-WINNING PHOTOGRAPHER PAUL WENHAM-CLARKE

Marking The Big Issue’s 20th anniversary in 2011, renowned photographer Paul Wenham-Clark was commissioned to take a series of portraits of Big Issue vendors.

Entitled ‘Hard Times’, the exhibition received the photography world’s highest accolade – a Gold Award from the Association of Photographers.

With more the 23 years experience as a commericial photographer Paul Wenham-Clarke has ammassed numerous awards, including Professional Photographer of the Year, the Commonwealth European Photo Prize and the BIPP Photographer of the Year. In 2007 he became a Senior Lecturer in Photography at one of the country’s leading art institutions, The Arts University College at Bournemouth.

Whilst compiling 'Hard Times' he photographed a series of Big Issue vendors in their “homes” – squats, hostels, caravans or nothing more than the street. Shedding light on the hidden lives of Britain’s homeless, the portraits offer an insight into their background, their family situation, the challenges they face while selling the magazine, their achievements and aspirations.

Following an enormously successful inaugral show at London's St Martin-in-the-Fields, the exhibition was on display at St Martin the Bullring in Birmingham.