Matthew Conduit worked at the Untitled Gallery in Sheffield throughout the 1980’s. During that time the gallery commissioned and exhibited a wide range of work concerning the city, culminating in The Sheffield Project, a series of commissions that set out to explore the regeneration of the city after the decline in traditional industries and in the run up to the World Student games in 1992. In 2020, Matthew curated a new survey exhibition of the work exhibited at Weston Park Museum, Sheffield, and also published a book of the work.
Part of The Sheffield Series, produced in 1981-82 whilst John was Fellow in Photography at Sheffield Polytechnic Fine Art Dept. then exhibited at the Untitled Gallery. This series was the first time John had photographed the urban landscape.
In Production project. Commissioned for Industry Year 1986, with Tim Smith.
In Production project. Commissioned for Industry Year 1986, with Patrick Sutherland.
Ken Phillip ran the renowned photography Dept. at Sheffield Polytechnic with Roger Taylor. He photographed the Sheffield landscape from the 1970s onwards, and was one of the first Sheffield Project Commissions.
From the Industrial Valley series, produced throughout the 1980’s, exploring the changing surface of the Upper and Lower Don Valley.
Anna Fox was one of the first commissions in the Sheffield Project. She spent a year touring the city in a Talbot van, with her new son, exploring the promise and politics of the World Student Games developments.
Berris Conolly moved from London to undertake a Sheffield Project commission, and never left. He continues to photograph the city today, and has published this wide body of work (Dewi Lewis Publishing).
Bill Stephenson documented the last months of Hyde Park Flats residents before demolition. He found a strong community who did not want to leave, but still believed in the potential of the Streets in the sky housing model.
Graham Gaunt was born in Sheffield, and returned to the city after being commissioned in 1988. His work explored the forgotten spaces in the Don Valley, many awaiting demolition and future redevelopment.
By the time Kate Mellor came to Sheffield, the Don Valley had been almost completely cleared. Her multi-faceted work explored the new facilities that had appeared, contrasted by the city’s history and the way it was being re-interpreted and re-packaged.
City of Ghosts consisted of a series of large scale colour photographs that reflected on the idea of ‘regeneration ‘ and the Steel City’s history.
John Darwell’s intimate work explored the impact of regeneration on the small businesses and people in the Attercliffe area of the Don Valley, as they were surrounded and eventually forced out of their premises.
Based in Manchester, Mike Black was commissioned to photograph a number of key sites and buildings where the future was uncertain or was controversial. He chose to work with a 10×8” field camera, which he’d never done before.
Iain Stewart left Sheffield to study in Edinburgh, but returned to complete a specific commission to photograph the actual World Student Games, and the associated cultural festival.