For the first 'Putting Ourselves in the Picture' initiative in 2021, Fast Forward: Women in Photography worked alongside five progressive-thinking partners to empower groups of refugee and migrant women to use photography in pertinent ways to tell stories about their own lives. The compelling results of the project were exhibited internationally and documented in the book 'Putting Ourselves in the Picture', co-published by Fast Forward and Trolley Books in 2022.

Building on the success of the first project, 'Putting Ourselves in the Picture Part 2: Engaging with Industry' aimed to provide marginalised women with opportunities to develop their stories and to start to connect to professionals within the field of photography.

Working again with five partners – this time Autograph, Creative Response, Women for Refugee Women, National Galleries of Scotland and Work Show Grow – the project engaged with groups of marginalised and vulnerable women and non-binary people (including refugees). A programme of workshops, mentorship activities and field trips was developed to introduce 30 participants to the photography industry.

Each of the partner organisations brought different expertise to the project. All have first-hand knowledge of working with marginalised communities, of promoting women in photography, of designing educational programmes, and in the case of the two gallery partners of disseminating high quality photography outputs such as publications and exhibitions. Each of the partners through their work in art, photography, social campaigning and education has made ground-breaking moves to create change to levels of equality and diversity in society.

Over the course of the project, the participants – Alena, Alina, Anna, B, Bunny, Catty, DeeDee, Elise, Eunny, Hanna, Iryna, Jannat, Jasmine, Kitty, Larysa, Margo, Maria, Maryna, Memory, Natalia P, Natalia S, Nina, Olena, Olga, Polina, Svitlana, Valentyna, Victoria, Viktoriia and Vicky – grew in confidence to use photography to tell stories about their lives. Their engagement with various aspects of the industry has inspired many of them to continue working with photography and some to develop a desire to work professionally. This publication shows their compelling work; the rarely seen yet often imagined life stories of refugees, non-binary and migrant people in the UK.

With text by Anna Fox, Maria Kapajeva and Corinne Whitehouse and interviews with project leads and mentors from the five partner organisations.

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Fast Forward, based at University for the Creative Arts in the UK, is designed to promote and engage with women in photography across the globe. They provoke new debate and ensure, as women photographers and professionals, that they are in the news and in the history books, and are committed to new ways of thinking, showing, discussing and distributing women’s photography.

Fast Forward’s manifesto for increased involvement of women in photography, which welcomes signatures from both individuals and organisations to support the need for equality and diversity across all fields of photography can be read and signed here.