Opening today (22 March), a major new outdoor exhibition called Picturing High Streets tells the stories behind our shopfronts. It celebrates our high street heroes, captures familiar scenes and invites audiences to consider the value and role of their local high street.

The exhibition is part of a three-year project by Historic England and Photoworks, in partnership with national and regional photography organisations, to create a contemporary portrait of England’s high streets.

In Middlesbrough, the exhibition will take the form of window displays at 28-33 and 31-22 Albert Road, outside the Cleveland Centre and at Pineapple Black in Hillstreet Shopping Centre and is available to visit for free from today.

This exhibition is part of Historic England’s £95 million government-funded High Streets Heritage Action Zone scheme, breathing new life into high streets across England. In Middlesbrough, Historic England is working in partnership with Middlesbrough Council to rejuvenate historic buildings and public spaces in the town centre.  

At a time when our high streets are continuing to change rapidly, this exhibition invites the public to reflect on the purpose of the high street. It also considers the history and experiences of the people and places that make up an often-overlooked fixture in all our lives.

The national winning 65 photographs have been crowdsourced from more than 1,000 public entries and will tour towns and cities across England from today, 22 March.

A selection of the winning images are on display in shop windows along Albert Road and outside the Cleveland Centre in Middlesbrough town centre. Alongside these are a series of photographs by members of local young people’s group, the Blooming Youth Collective, in the windows of Pineapple Black art gallery in Hillstreet Shopping Centre. A Tees Valley Arts project, the Blooming Youth Collective is presenting images of a range of special places in the town including the Transporter Bridge, the railway station and the Riverside Stadium.

Since September 2022, people across England have been responding to themed fortnightly challenges, from “high street hang outs” to “bright lights to dark nights” and submitting their photographs on Instagram under the hashtag #PicturingHighStreets. All entries create an unofficial archive documenting a year in the life of the English high street on Instagram, and the winning photographs will also enter the Historic England Archive, the nation’s archive for England’s historic buildings, archaeology and social history.

Duncan Wilson, Historic England Chief Executive, said: “It was a joy to judge the images submitted by the public, each of which reflected its own way the true importance and spirit of England’s high streets today. The range and volume of images submitted shows just how much the high street still means to us all, and this exhibition captures a moment in the everyday life of the high street. We’re thrilled to be bringing these images to high streets across England in different forms in our largest outdoor exhibition to date.”

Gaye Kirby, Creative Programmes & Partnerships Manager at Middlesbrough Council, said: “We are delighted to be partnering with Historic England to celebrate the nation’s high streets here in Middlesbrough. The photographs on display in our shop windows reflect the diversity of life on our high streets adding colour and vibrancy to our own town centre.  We are especially grateful to Blooming Youth Collective for their involvement in gathering photographs of Middlesbrough taken by local young people to accompany the national exhibition.  We hope that everyone enjoys seeing them.”

The full 65 images can be viewed online here. They were judged by designer and retail expert Wayne Hemingway MBE, artist Camille Walala, Clear Channel UK’s Marketing Director Ben Hope, Director of Photoworks Jonathan May, and Historic England Chief Executive, Duncan Wilson.

The public can continue to submit their photographs to respond to a fortnightly challenge that uncovers the secret life of the high street, posting their own photographs on Instagram using #PicturingHighStreets until 30 September 2023.

The high streets cultural programme is the widest-reaching, community-led arts and heritage programme in the public realm that has ever been organised, led by Historic England in partnership with Arts Council England and the National Lottery Heritage Fund.

   Follow @PicturingHighStreets on Instagram and post your pictures using #PicturingHighStreets. The national outdoor exhibition will open March 2023.