Stephen McCoy has spent 45 years living, working, and photographing on Merseyside. “Proximity” explores his deep connection with the people and places of the region, tracing the development of his photographic practice over the decades. The exhibition features a selection of works from his major projects, spanning from 1979 to the present, including two recent, ongoing sets of work.

From housing estates in Ainsdale to communities in Skelmersdale, from the demolition sites in Liverpool to the safe spaces of homes and gardens, from along the coastline to a touching and personal family journey – these projects, featuring a wide range of subjects and experimental ways of making pictures, celebrate the relationships that we create throughout our lives.

Stephen McCoy said: I have always felt that my best work shows a deep personal connection to the subject photographed, whether of people or place. A sense of place necessitates familiarity with an area; hence this exhibition is a distillation of a 45-year project, a continuing examination of my homeland, my Proximity.

For me photographs must have a balance between concept, technique and creativity. I do consider myself a documentary photographer, in the broadest sense; I photograph my view of the world and create order. Many of the photographs in the exhibition are from older projects and these have taken on a different kind of importance as time has passed.

Projects presented at the exhibition:

Housing Estates, 1979 – 1983. Between 1970s and 1980s large housing estates were built in Ainsdale on the seaward side of the village. Stephen McCoy started to photograph what essentially was his home environment, going from dark pictures with high contrast to deliberately photographing under flat-light conditions.

Skelmersdale, 1983 – 1984. Skelmersdale was designated a new town in 1961 to house overspill populations from the north Merseyside conurbation. With the economic downturn in the late 1970s large industrial employers left the town, causing an increase in poverty. Stephen McCoy was commissioned as a photographer in residence to make photographs of the residents and landscape of Skelmersdale.

River to River, 1985 – 1990. River to River follows the coastline from the river Mersey in the South to the river Ribble in the North: from the docks at Seaforth through the tourist areas of Southport to the reclaimed marsh and farmland of Banks and Hesketh Bank.

Demolition Sites, 1981 – 1986. Photographed in Liverpool and Preston, these spaces existed because of the demolition of industrial and domestic buildings. In some cases, they existed for a short time before redevelopment took place, with others the ground lay unused for many years.

Archaeology of a Carpet, 2003. Layers in the transparent vacuum cleaner cylinder as an archaeological record of the domestic environment activities.

Personal Space, 1980 – 1984. A series of photographs taken of families engaged in day-to-day activities in the safe space of homes and gardens – a humorous look at many quirky situations that occur as a natural part of family life.

Portraits, 1978 to present. Photographing a wide range of subjects and experimenting in ways of making pictures – to celebrate connection with people.

Every House My Mother Lived In, 2019 – present. One family’s journey through nine different houses and flats. From a terraced house in Liverpool to a semi-detached house in North Wales, from a flat in Greater Manchester to a self-build house in Ainsdale – each one has created memories, reminiscences, experiences.

The Rimrose Valley, 2016 – present. Rimrose Valley is a 3.5 km country park – it is not pristine and shows evidence of changing land use. A subject to flooding and occasional vandalism, it still has increasing importance for wildlife and peaceful recreation.

The show will be accompanied by the exterior walls exhibition of a selection of Café Royal Books covers. Café Royal Books is an independent publisher founded by Craig Atkinson in 2005, dedicated to post-war photography from Britain, with a particular interest in unseen or overlooked work. Each book, published weekly in an accessible and affordable zine format, focuses on a single body of work by a single photographer. Stephen McCoy was featured in 16 of these, with the various projects spanning his entire photography career.