‘Confined Inside and Out’ by Charlie Holt is an online photography exhibition that was commissioned for The Living City as part of our exploration of Preston in Lockdown.
It features residents from Croston, a village south of Preston, accompanied by words which reflect what they said they missed and what plans they had had for the future.
Further information about this collection and the artist can be found below the photographs.
Miss my routine…Miss school 
Thinking about the future…What is normal?
Excited about going sea fishing and going to the pub 
A pint with Kith and Kin…Missing family
Haircut Hugging Friends 
Missing Family..Visiting Family 
Looking forward to getting married…Miss hugs
The first thing we will do is get on a plane and squeeze everything out of the future 
Nice and Quiet…Missed interaction with family…hardly a car…yippee
Miss hairdresser…what does the future hold 
Couldn’t visit my father…couldn’t help him…he died
Miss hugging people…I don’t want to go shopping 
Missing grandchildren and the South Lakes…a lost summer
About Confined inside and out
‘Confined Inside and Out’ by Charlie Holt was commissioned for The Living City as part of our exploration of Preston in Lockdown.
Describing ‘Confined Inside and Out’ artist Charlie Holt explains that the series of photos “is based on residents of Croston, a village south of Preston slightly out on a limb – a minimal bus service, no trains on a Sunday, 3 shops and 2 cafes and 6 pubs and 2 hairdressers and a beauty salon. Lockdown has limited the movement of people in Croston even more.”
Holt’s work explores the restrictions of lockdown and he explains that he “wanted to capture peoples thoughts and feelings of being confined using the window as our view on the world from inside looking out. I asked for thoughts on being isolated such as what did they miss most? What plans they had for the future? The responses were very varied and very poignant.”
Holt hopes ‘Confined Inside and Out’ will allow people to reflect on their own experience of being confined.
About the Artist
Charlie Holt has lived in Croston for 40 years and works out of his studio in the village.
Holt describes ‘random’ and ‘chance’ as being central to his work saying that “the Exquisite Corpse game is ever present.”
His work is heavily influenced by Pop art Dada and Surrealism and uses both traditional and newer digital methods, often combining both.
Locally he has been exhibited at the Building Design Partnership Gallery and The Harris. He also has had his work exhibited internationally in Europe, The U.S.A and in India.
To see more of Charlie Holt’s work you can visit his Facebook page , Instagram page or website.
To find out more about Charlie Holt, how his creativity has functioned in lockdown and his thoughts on the arts post pandemic check out his Meet the Artist page here.
The Living City project is produced by They Eat Culture, & supported by the Community Lottery Fund & Arts Council England.
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