We are delighted to confirm that we have received National Lottery Heritage funding for an exciting and unique, 2-year photography curation project SANKEY- LIVES THROUGH THE LENS. The National Lottery Heritage Fund has awarded Signal £250,000 in support of the project which is expected to engage 1000’s of people across Barrow and Cumbria.

LIVES THROUGH THE LENS will commence this Summer 2024 starting with workshops and masterclasses engaging the local community with the Sankey Photography Archive.

The vast archive was produced by Barrow’s own father-sons photographers Edward, Raymond and Eric Sankey over an 80 year period. Together they documented the social activity of the town from ship launches to parades, pageants, royal visits and street scenes, travelling far and wide capturing Cumbria and Lancashire too. The collection is believed to be the largest of its kind which documents Barrow comprehensively between the years of 1890 and 1970. The Sankey family have generously and kindly donated the entire vast archive in the hope it will be accessible for the local community and future generations.

In September 2023 we launched the full digitised collection online for the first time. Since then it has had thousands of views from all over the world engaging people with Barrow’s heritage – www.sankeyphotoarchive.uk. We can’t wait to further explore and discover the quality and richness of the archive with the local community as we plan to bring heritage opportunities and skills to a wider audience.

Later this year, an expansive, creative and hands-on programme of activity will be announced; providing opportunities for both adults and young people to be involved with a wide array of activities to co-curate and explore the archive such as field visits & archive research sessions, oral history training, filmmaking, photography, creative writing and sound workshops as well as interpretation workshops with artists, exhibitions and more.

A short documentary film capturing the collection can be viewed here. To keep up to date with our projects and opportunities, please subscribe to our e-newsletter here. 

Alongside this new Sankey project we are currently accepting proposals for creative projects from a socially-engaged, multidisciplinary artist who will work collaboratively with young people from ages 14 – 30 to produce a new artistic commission that responds to the Sankey Photography Archive. Find out more below.