Exhibition at Weston Park Museum, Sheffield

I’ve been waiting a long time to share this exhibition with you, but I’m finally glad to say that on Saturday, the show at Weston Park Museum, Sheffield, will be open to the public!

It will feature 9 stories from the project, including a newly commissioned story about Kyle and his Grandad.

Please do try and get along to see it at some point over the next few months, I’d be delighted to know that you’ve been to visit.

This feels like a very significant moment in the life of the project, and it’s a beautiful and poignant display of all that the project has become over the past 6 years. My hope is that it will allow people to acknowledge their own loss, whilst encouraging them to engage and talk about their experiences.

Simon x

Loved&Lost - Volume 1

Loved&Lost - Volume 1 - The first book is now available to order from the project website here.

Having succeeded with a Kickstarter campaign, the book is now being made into a reality. I’ve had the privilege of working with designer Craig Oldham to craft a beautiful version of 5 stories from the project.

I hope you get as much solace and joy from reading it as I have from making it.

Simon x

New Facebook group for sharing your story

I’m delighted to share that there’s now a Facebook group in which you are able to share your Loved&Lost story.

Over the years, I’ve lost count of the amount of people who have wanted to take part in the project, that I’ve had to turn down due to a lack of time or resources. To counter this, I’ve developed a new Participate page on the website, which guides you through self initiated participation in the project.

You can then share the photos and text on the new Facebook Group - Loved&Lost Sharing, to be seen by others who have engaged with the project.

It is my hope that this will be a lasting legacy for the project as more and more people take part and share their stories.

Lisa & Sheila

Sheila and I met through our love of sport, Sheila did Triathlons and we had many an adventure together including cycling The Way of The Roses, a 170 mile cycle from Morecambe to Bridlington.

Sheila was not only my best friend but she was like a mother to me too. She was the first person I would pick up the phone to and share my news be it happy or sad, we spoke every day. Sheila was diagnosed with lung cancer 4 years ago, she had a lung removed and started treatment. The surgeon told her she’d never swim again but she was back in the pool within months! She was a truly inspirational lady, she never once moaned about how poorly she felt.

The day the first photo was taken Sheila and I were being treated to a spa day and afternoon tea at The Midland by our lovely friends, it was a wonderful day filled with lots of laughter. Going back to The Midland to take the second photo without her made me sad but also grateful that I had her in my life and we got to share so many wonderful times together.

Rachel & Grandma

This is Grandma Eva, the sweetest and kindest woman - ever.

She was very much the homemaker and a great cook. Her Cornish pasties were legendary along with mashed potatoes - mash always came with lots of butter - the ultimate treat having lived through rationing times. To me, she was the storybook grandma; so bedtime meant a bath, then time by the fire and a bedtime story. These stories were the best, as she often sung them. Her favourite, and now mine, was Christopher Robin.

When I look at this photo of her, I see two things. I see the face of my son Christian and I can picture how happy she was when I told her I was pregnant; it was a smile that lasted for hours.

I can’t get back to where the original photo was taken, so I chose to have this photograph taken by the ‘Forget-me-nots’ here at St. John’s Hospice. Her garden was full of ‘Forget-me-nots’ and I loved playing in them as a child. It was emotional to have this photograph taken, but important and I like that in this photo I am next to nature, because Grandma Eva taught me all about seeds, flowers and respecting nature. I’ve stopped being angry that she is dead, but I haven’t stopped loving her.

Jen & Mum

The photo of me and my Mum was taken in 1985 at Duthie Park in Aberdeen on our first day out together. If my Mum was alive today she would probably tell me off for putting this photo online as she preferred to be on the other side of camera but the fact she looks so happy and content makes me think she would of forgiven me in the end!

The other photo was taken in the garden at the Hospice where my mum passed away and where I work now so it seemed the right place to take the picture. What makes it more poignant is that as I am the same age now as my Mum is in the photo…so it feels like we’ve gone full circle in a strange way.

Doing Loved&Lost was a great way to celebrate my mum and the relationship we had. I think of her every day without fail. I miss her sense of humour and the laughs we used to have.

Richard, Georgia & Emily

The pictures were taken on ‘The Ridgeway’ by Janet. In the original picture, taken in 2005, are Richard, Janet’s husband and their daughters, Georgia and Emily.

Prior to the birth of the girls, Richard and Janet completed many walks, and continued to walk after the birth of their daughters, enjoying shorter family walks, including to the Ridgeways White Horse Hill.

Richard died in 2007, two years after the first picture was taken. Some of his ashes are scattered on White Horse Hill.

After hearing of ‘Loved&Lost’, Janet and her girls again walked a section of ‘The Ridgeway’, including White Horse Hill. This was the first time they had returned there together.

Loved&Lost Podcast is here!

Series 1 of the Loved&Lost Podcast is here!

5 stories from the project, each packaged in 20 minute podcasts. Available on all good podcast platforms.

Hear the stories and find out more here.

Sophy & Ella

The first photo is of me and my wonderful Grandma; Ella, who I called “Omi”, which is German for grandma.

She is wearing her “Sunday best” because she knew she was having her photograph taken and only agreed to it as my husband was behind the camera! Day to day she was much happier in her gardening or casual clothes. I was so close to Omi, I went to her home every day after school from the age of five to eighteen. There was nothing I couldn’t tell her and she never judged me – just cuddled me.

It is ten years since she died so the Loved&Lost project is the perfect time to remember Omi with a new photograph and a chat. Ten years and I still miss her. When my husband took this second photograph we talked about what a warm person she was and what fantastic cakes she made.

My Grandad always said, “Your grandma’s motto is – if it moves feed it and if it stays still clean it”. I have inherited the cooking and baking gene but not the cleaning gene!

Loved&Lost Exhibition - Manchester Cathedral

You are hereby invited to the opening night of the Loved&Lost exhibition at Manchester Cathedral on Tuesdya 5th March - 6.30-8.30pm

A selection of stories from the Loved&Lost project will be exhibited in print and displayed on a screen.

The evening will also mark the unveiling of a new installation above the Cathedral's high alter, by the Cathedral's Artist-in-Residence, Stephen Raw.

Both the Loved&Lost exhibition and Stephen Raw's installation will run for the duration of Lent and will be accessible in accordance with prior arranged Cathedral services and events.

6th March 2019 - 27th April 2019

The event is FREE ENTRY, so please feel free to bring guests, but if you're able to register through Eventbrite, that will give us an idea of how many of you to cater for.

Register on Eventbrite here.

Loved&Lost is a documentary project by Manchester based artist Simon Bray that invites participants to explore their experience of loss. Each participant is asked to find a photograph of themselves with their lost loved one. We return to the location of the original photograph to replicate the image and record an interview. You can find out more at www.lovedandlostproject.co.uk

Loved&Lost has recently been featured on BBC Breakfast TV, BBC News Front Page, The Guardian, Positive News, and has previously exhibited at Oriel Colwyn.

Nigel & Carol

In the first of our participant contributions, Nigel shares about his experience of returning to Didcot to re-stage a photograph after the loss of his wife Carol.

“Carol and I had been together for just under 15 years.  We shared a love of art, culture & social history.  We loved going on adventures together to visit Churches, Cathedrals (both modern & historical) and especially Heritage Railways, Carol’s Father having worked for GWR all his life.”

“One week-end we went to the Didcot Railway Centre to one of their special events where they had all their locomotives in steam. We had a great time and I took (what turned out to be) my favourite photograph of Carol, standing next to one of their branch lines. I specifically asked Carol to stand next to the 15 sign, as we were to have our 15th anniversary soon.”

“A couple of months ago I went back to Didcot with my friend Steve.  Steve had been introduced to me by the Vicar who conducted Carol’s funeral service, as she knew that we both liked steam engines.  Steve & I had a good day out and as we walked passed the ‘15’ sign, I turned, pointed the camera, took the photo and walked away.  Steve didn’t know why I did it – I then told the story of Carol’s photograph.  Going back there with Steve was bitter-sweet.  I really didn’t think I’d be able to pass the ‘15’ sign, but something inside me lead me there.  I couldn’t dwell at the ‘15’ sign, hence my walking straight away.  But now when I look at both photographs side by side it sums up what is missing from my life.  Although I have many photographs of Carol and I together, the significance of the ‘15’ will always stay with me, as we never reached that magical number together.”