Tracey Thorne
British Protests - Politics, protests and acts of resistance
This work is a collection of photographs I have been making over the last few years on Britain's streets - documenting protests, movements and acts of resistance that tell us something about Britain today.
The right to protest in Britain is increasingly under threat. Recent legislation, including the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Act 2022, the Public Order Act 2023, and the proposed Crime and Policing Bill, signals a broader shift toward the restriction and control of dissent. We are witnessing not only a legal transformation, but a cultural one: where the boundaries of acceptable protest are being narrowed, and the consequences of participation intensified. Since 2022, hundreds of charges have been brought under new protest laws, among them, peaceful protesters charged under terrorism legislation simply for holding signs.
Alongside this, we are witnessing the unequal treatment of different groups under the law, and most troubling of all, the emboldening and rise of the far right on Britain's streets.
This is the context in which I make my photographs. I see my work as a form of photographic activism, not just documentation, but a way of responding to what is happening on Britain’s streets.
As one sign holder wrote - You are being resisted.
