United Kingdom

Josh Adam Jones

www.joshadamjones.co.uk

Biography

As a social documentary photographer from Cheltenham, Josh Adam Jones’ (b. 1995) practice seeks to communicate stories about often misrepresented places and those who live there. From the ageing Irish populations of U.K towns and cities to the expatriate communities of a lesser known Middle Eastern country, Josh hopes to facilitate conversations about identity, home and interculturalism through his work.

Spreading his time between working as a photographic assistant in London or on commissions, Josh also works on and disseminates self-funded projects through the means of publication. The British Journal of Photography, It’s Nice That and Then There Was Us have provided a continued platform for communicating his stories, both online and in print.

Josh is now making work whilst studying a part-time MA course in Photography and has recently been involved with a collaborative commission from the British Council & Ffotogallery: The Place I Call Home. This joint project has enabled Josh to continue making work in line with similar themes investigated in XO and has provided a worldwide exhibition platform in which to showcase the work.

Céad Míle Fáilte means a hundred thousand welcomes in Gaelic and is a sentiment that runs through Irish hospitality. This series was made over a three-month period across three different cities, and the stories that were unearthed proved to be honest and unifying.

The Birmingham Irish used to make up 4% of the city’s population, but over time this has drastically decreased. Despite this figure, almost a hundred thousand people continue to attend the annual St. Patrick’s Day parade. This is the largest celebration of its kind outside of Ireland after London and New York.

At the time of making this project in 2017, The Irish Centre in Digbeth was still an active hub for Irish residents, located only a short walk away from the centre of Birmingham. Serving the “best Guinness in town”, the place hosts a weekly ‘Tuesday Club’ led by Sister Teresa Pattinson. Traditional ‘Set Dancing’, games of bingo and light refreshments are commonplace here, and a strong sense of and community feel as alive as the people who frequent it.

Communities of Irish exist in many other cities across the world. Bristol and Cheltenham also have pockets of such folk, again with dwindling numbers. What remains true of these communities is their sense of unity and pride in being Irish.

99 Peace Walls was born out of ongoing interest in the Irish inhabitants of English towns and cities, namely Birmingham, Cheltenham and Bristol. Following on from the earlier project (Céad Míle Fáilte), coupled with the approaching summer of 2017, Josh decided to volunteer at Belfast Photo Festival. This was his way into the Northern Irish life.

Over a two-week period, balancing working at the festival and exploring the Northern Irish cities, the photographer documented the numerous chance encounters he experienced, along with the landscape these people lived in. It was an instinctive process for him and did not involve lengthy preplanning.

Since this first trip, Josh has since returned to the city to continue the work. His then preconceptions have since been dispersed, and although still a stranger to the Northern Ireland in some ways, his presence has always been welcomed by the people in Belfast.