The term “home” features prominently in our daily language and brings about different emotions. Phrases such as “A hard truth hits home” or “Home free” are popular idioms that carry their unique interpretations. Some might relate “home” to a sense of safety, like in “Home is where the heart is”, which conveys feelings of affection towards a person or thing. Meanwhile, “There’s no place like home,” a line made famous by Judy Garland in The Wizard of Oz, is commonly used to express the fondness for familiar surroundings.
In their photobook Home is not a Place, photographer Johny Pitts and poet Roger Robinson explore the diverse interpretations of “home”. Published by Harper Collins in 2022, the book details Black British culture, with Pitts and Robinson journeying across the UK to engage and document various families and communities. The idea of “home” in their work is viewed as dynamic and unique to each individual they met. As Pitts elucidates, the book “honours Black spaces, encapsulates them in their current state and provides them a home, in a symbolic sense. For me, home is something that travels with you.”
The Photoworks-backed project is currently on display at the Stills Gallery in Edinburgh. Pitts expresses his realization that “the places where Black and working-class communities thrive often have a fleeting existence”. He turned to photography to help conserve these delicate cultural relics. Through capturing candid, everyday moments, the work narrates a larger story about the diverse expressions of Black British culture. Pieces include Man Through Rain Dappled Window (2010), featuring a blurred face peering back at the camera, and The Activist (2021), where a woman is advocating for climate fairness at Cop26, Glasgow. Former Premises of the Horse & Lion Pub (2016) depicts a group of teens wandering through Sheffield at twilight.
The photographs span diverse locations within the UK, from Land’s End to Bristol, John O’Groats to Scarborough, capturing life in both rural and urban regions. Robinson explains: “Johny has the extraordinary ability to uncover and portray cultures that are often unnoticed but widely experienced.” Throughout the exhibition, Pitts introduces multiple dimensions to the meaning of “home”, showcasing its complexity and variability.
Home is not a Place
stills.org | On display until 10 June
Article by: Megan Jones
Image Acknowledgments
1. © Johny Pitts, Kenya Friend Chicken, Firth Park.
2. © Johny Pitts, from Home Is Not A Place, 2021-22.
3. © Johny Pitts, from
