Nottingham Goose Fair
In 2015 I led a Royal Photographic Society Collaborative Photobook Project at the Nottingham Goose Fair. It was a remarkable experience: A dozen or so photographers wandering the fairground together, each absorbing the same lights, colours, crowds, and atmosphere, yet returning with entirely different visual stories. Looking back now, I think it may be well worth revisiting the Goose Fair in 2026. So much has changed since then—both in the world and in how we each approach photography—and a return would allow us to see what has shifted, what has remained, and how our collective eye has matured.
What makes these projects so interesting is that they reveal the deeply personal nature of seeing. Every participant stands in the same place, yet photographs something different. This contrast creates an extraordinary mosaic of perspectives—a reminder that photography is shaped as much by who we are as by what we see. The resulting book becomes a layered, multi-voiced portrait of place and moment.
They also create a powerful learning environment. When photographers see how others approached the same subject, they naturally reflect on their own decisions: composition, timing, post-production, sequencing, and narrative. The peer-to-peer insight is invaluable. Many participants tell me that the true learning often happens after the shoot, when everyone’s work is laid out side by side.
There is also the documentary significance. These books become time capsules: records of a landscape, an event, or a street at a very specific point in its history. A collaborative revisiting—such as returning to the Goose Fair after more than a decade—adds an additional layer of historical depth, allowing us to trace change, memory, and cultural continuity.
And perhaps most importantly, there is the sheer enjoyment. Photography is often a solitary pursuit, but these projects turn it into a communal experience—walking together, talking, sharing ideas, comparing images, and building something collectively. The finished book becomes a physical embodiment of that shared creative journey.
It is this combination of personal vision, collective learning, cultural documentation, and the simple joy of creating together that makes these collaborative photobook projects so compelling—and why revisiting the Goose Fair in 2026 feels not only timely, but creatively exciting.
