Zines made by five refugee women living in Bradford are featured in Headstrong: Women and Empowerment, a Fast Forward: Women in Photography exhibition, as part of the launch programme for Centre For British Photography.

Headstrong: Women and Empowerment, celebrates the work of living photographers based in Britain. The exhibition looks at women who have made work that is concerned with how they are represented, what they are dealing with in their everyday lives and what it means to embrace diversities that challenge the conservative order of a patriarchal society. Their work is playful, thought-provoking and often surprising.

The exhibition includes work by women who took part in Putting Ourselves in the Picture, a national mentorship project designed to empower women to use photography to tell stories about their own lives. Included in Headstrong are zines made by Ana, Elham, Manar, Maryam and Taraneh, who worked with Impressions Gallery during a yearlong project to develop their skills in photography. Inspired by a workshop with artist Jean McEwan, the women playfully collaged their family photographs with text. Each created a colourful zine with a personal story that connected the past to their present lives.

Headstrong: Women and Empowerment, a Fast Forward: Women in Photography exhibition is at Centre for British Photography, London, 26 January to 30 April 2023.

The Centre for Photography is a charitable foundation that has been set up by the Gallerist and Philanthropist, James Hyman, to support and raise the status of British Photography.

Putting Ourselves in the Picture project was organised by Fast Forward with five partners: in London with Autograph and Women for Refugee Women; in Scotland with National Galleries of Scotland; in Bradford with Impressions Gallery and online with Work Show Grow.

Funded by the University for the Creative Arts through an ED&I (Equality, Diversity and Inclusion) Engagement Fellowship awarded to Anna Fox at Fast Forward by the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC), part of UKRI.

Top image: Zine (detail) by Manar.