Jonathan Foulger — A Life in Portraits

Jonathan Foulger’s photographic practice is rooted in people, place and lived experience. His work is shaped by a childhood spent in Hebden Bridge, a working-class mill town in the North West of England, and by a life that has moved between plastering, punk culture, social documentary and portrait photography.

Jonathan arrived in Hebden Bridge at the age of nine. At the time, the town was very different from the picturesque destination it is often perceived as today. Derelict mills and abandoned houses were part of the landscape. Buildings were blackened by decades of smoke from mill chimneys and coal fires, giving the town a gritty, industrial character and a sense of an edge that has since disappeared.

At fifteen, Jonathan experienced the loss of his father. At the same time, he was discovering music and becoming immersed in the punk scene. Punk provided a natural outlet for the anger, frustration and uncertainty of the time. It also introduced him to a culture that questioned authority and challenged the status quo.

After leaving school, Jonathan joined a YTS scheme based at the partly derelict Nutclough Mill. He was assigned to work with a plasterer, a trade that would unexpectedly become his lifelong career. Although he repeatedly explored opportunities to change direction, he always returned to plastering.

It was not until 2007, while carrying out a plastering job for a photography lecturer, that Jonathan began to consider photography as more than an interest. A conversation with the lecturer encouraged him to enrol on a Foundation Degree in Contemporary Photography. During his studies, it became clear that portraiture was one of his strengths.

Influenced by the paintings of the Dutch Masters, Jonathan began applying their approach to light, composition and atmosphere within his photography. His portraits are carefully constructed, yet they remain grounded in the humanity of the people he photographs.

His final college project explored homelessness in London and led to a body of work created with the Simon Community, a charity supporting homeless people in central London. The project went on to win the 2009 National Media Museum Portrait Prize and was exhibited at the James Hyman Gallery in London.