About
Where We Are
What's happening
WHERE WE ARE
Place, Presence and Belonging
1–31 October 2026
The Vault, Brighton seafront
Free entry and free participation
Can one photograph contain everything we know about a place? And when we stand in the same location, do we really see the same thing?
Where We Are is an evolving four-week photography project for Brighton Photo Fringe 2026. It explores how identity, memory and lived experience shape what each of us notices—and who or what is allowed to remain visible.
Here, photography is more than an image. It becomes testimony, self-representation, evidence, exchange and resistance. In a time when almost everyone carries a camera, the project asks what changes when we move from simply taking pictures to making photographs with intention.
Movement One: Presence and Belonging
1–16 October | led by Gil Mualem-Doron (SEAS)
The opening movement brings together photography, textiles and recorded testimony to examine identity, queer and trans experience, social equity and belonging.
Visitors are invited to spend time with individual stories and consider who is present, who is absent and who is too often overlooked.
The work and creative presence of Pierre-Yves Monnerville form a quiet connecting thread through the exhibition, holding memory, absence and the traces people leave within a place.
Artist Talk Saturday 10/10 from 3pm
Artist Led Workshop Sunday 11/10, 3-5pm
The Handover
Friday 16 October, 5.30–8pm
Gil Mualem-Doron, Kathy Williams, artists and visitors come together for a live transition between the project’s two movements.
Through a shared photography jam, the exhibition begins to shift from curated testimony towards public response and collective authorship.
Movement Two: Place and Collective Authorship
17–31 October | led by Kathy Williams (Place of Safety)
In the second movement, the final outcome is deliberately left open.
Kathy’s practice begins with looking, playing and asking, “What if?” Visitors can photograph the same view, respond to an existing artwork or contribute an image of the surrounding area. Selected contributions gradually enter the installation, allowing it to change through light, weather, memory and public encounter.
The camera becomes a tool for noticing and prompting action rather than simply recording a finished result. Authorship is shared, learning moves in different directions, and the gallery becomes a living archive of where we are now.
Register for the Jamming Sessions with Kathy Williams
Programme Highlights
Friday 2 October
Public exhibition opens.
Sunday 4 October, 3–5pm
Opening reception and introduction to the project.
Saturday 10/10 October
Doors and exhibition viewing from 11am.
Artist talk at 3pm, followed by audience conversation.
Close at 6pm.
Sunday 11 October, 3–5pm
Artist led accessible workshop - Free walk-in, donation Wellcome.
Friday 16 October, 5.30–8pm
The Handover Jam.
Saturday 17 October, 1–3.30pm
Take Another Look, a guided photography walk and live gallery response.
Sunday 18 October, 2–4pm
Making a Photograph: an accessible photographic-process workshop.
Saturday 24 October, 2–4.30pm
Call and Response: photography, words, gesture and artist-led intervention.
Saturday 31 October, 5–8pm
Where We Are Now: closing projection, collective archive, conversation and After Life gathering.
CLOSING PARTY 31 OCTOBER, 8pm-12am: "After Life"
With DJ Isaac.
Take Part
You are welcome to simply look, spend time with the work or join the evolving project.
Use your own phone or camera, write a response, contribute photographs made locally in 2026, or take part in one of the artist-led jams. Participation is free, and an assisted route is available for anyone who does not use a smartphone.
Optional instant photographs are available for £2. Visitors can also support the programme through refreshments, publications, artworks and selected items from the Wach’Art catalogue.
Visit
The Vault
Brighton seafront, beside the Brighton i360 and opposite the Upside Down House.
Open Thursday to Monday, 11am–6pm
Free entry. Everyone is welcome.
Where We Are does not ask the public to agree on one Brighton. It creates space for different experiences, identities and ways of seeing to exist together.
For more information email to: info@midstreetlab.com
