Description:For over many decades now small shops have been adapting to changing circumstances to survive and to meet the needs of new communities.
The inspiration behind this shop front collection of images is a photograph taken in 1976 by Nick Hedges for the Community Development Project based in Saltley, Birmingham. The image is a portrait of a shop-owner and his relatives standing outside their store. The photograph represents another change of direction for the small shop, towards selling specialist produce for specific communities and cultures. In this instance the Muslim community.
Using the same ‘shop front portrait’ idea the new images are of small local shops across the Black Country today. Many of the shopkeepers photographed were also interviewed for the project.
Image: Photo courtesy of Nick Hedges, 'Continental Grocers', Birmingham, 1976: The shopkeeper stands in the doorway whilst his relatives are photographed.