“Doing things with people rather than at them:

The Caravan Gallery”

Exposure magazine, December 15, 2019

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Challenging recognized conventions of social documentary photography and employing a range of investigative strategies within a socially engaged practice, The Caravan Gallery is a collaboration between artists Jan Williams and Chris Teasdale. Basing their activities in and around a 1969 holiday caravan which functions as a mobile exhibition venue, a center for research and a site for activities that engage visitors and encourage creative participation, The Caravan Gallery presents a subjective and diverse interpretation of contemporary life in Britain since 2000. Using color photography to make postcards, prints, and a variety of publications, the artists produce and display photography that responds to people and place, from the everyday to the extraordinary. Williams and Teasdale’s candid images offer cultural critique by arresting surreal or humorous moments. They highlight eccentricities found in daily life and draw attention to ironic juxtapositions that might otherwise go unnoticed or underappreciated. Their simple phenomenological observations also capture the spirit of place and their photographs function as a semiotic framework through which to consider how people identify themselves and their environments. This article contextualizes the innovative practice of The Caravan Gallery.