Look11 Photography Festival

Published on Thu Jul 21, 2011 by David J Colbran
Last Updated on Thu Jan 22, 2026

"Out on the Streets" - Look 11 Exhibition

"As public sector service cuts take place and plans about changes to the higher education system come into effect, there has been an uprising in street protest in the UK.

The project shows both peaceful and violent reactions to changes in society under a new Government and the response from police and stewards trying to control events. It poses questions about the effectiveness of police tactics during modern demonstrations, the validity of new and alternative methods of protest used by some groups and the sudden re-awakening of a student political movement."
.............................

The below images were exhibited at The Bluecoat Arts Centre in Liverpool as part of the Look 11 Photography Festival 13th May to 26th June 2011. Also images from this show have featured in national media recently.

The festival was a great success, hopefully I will get the opportunity to work with this festival again in the future.

Over the last two decades I have been documenting various social issues and how they manifest themselves via protests. I covered many UK Uncut actions and documented direct actions, student demonstrations and protests both here in Liverpool and across the UK. You can see a large collection of protest photography over on my Tumblr blog.

As a result of this work I have collaborated with a number of criminology academics researching new types of street protests. I have presented my work and experiences as a professional photographer in a module called "Photography and Protest" several times at Liverpool John Moores University. And participated in workshop and seminar activities.

UK Uncut in Liverpool outside Vodafone