BRISTOL.- Arnolfini presents Against the Tide, a new exhibition by documentary photographer Polly Braden, created in collaboration with young people growing up in some of the most deprived and often forgotten places across England.

Known for her intimate, long-term collaborations, Braden’s work focuses on overlooked communities and social issues, and her distinctive style combines quiet observation with deep empathy.

Against the Tide is a project led by Braden in collaboration with journalist Lisa Bachelor as part of The Guardian’s Seascape series. The pair have spent more than a year visiting coastal places in England, talking to young people about their lives and what matters to them. The result is a layered picture that goes beyond the usual, negative portrayals and which shines a light on the hope that is sometimes hidden from public view.

Across intimate portraits and first-hand testimony, Against the Tide brings audiences face-to-face with a generation navigating life at the sharp edge of inequality, while also imagining something different. Alongside accounts of isolation and lack of opportunity are expressions of resilience, ambition and hope, and a clear message: coastal towns are not just sites of decline, but places of creativity and possibility.

Spanning places that include Weston-super-Mare, Scarborough, Grimsby, Southend, Portsmouth, Whitehaven, Tendring, Rhyl and Blackpool, Against the Tide reveals a side of coastal life rarely seen in national narratives. Developed over a year through sustained collaboration with 16–25-year-olds across these towns, Braden’s work moves beyond observation, offering a platform for young people to express their ideas and experiences, and to form new connections with peers in other coastal locations.

Through a series of five workshops led by local artists in Weston-super-Mare, Blackpool, Whitehaven, and Brightlingsea, the young participants have documented their local surroundings, creating photographs that challenge and reframe dominant narratives about their hometowns. They are curating the resulting images through local exhibitions – including in Bristol, where Besides the Sea opens in Arnolfini’s Gallery 5. As the project with Braden unfolded, the participants created a series of handwritten postcards, sharing messages of frustration, resilience and hope with peers in other UK coastal towns, building connections across geographical and political divides.

The young people involved in the project have spoken directly to policymakers, Polly and Lisa accompanied a group to present to MPs at the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Coastal Communities in Parliament, while a conference at UCL London on 24 June will bring together participants, practitioners and coastal decision-makers to drive forward change.





Against the Tide positions photography as a space for dialogue and agency, where images become a means of connection and advocacy. The exhibition asks what futures young people want to build, and what needs to change for those futures to become possible.

“When I leave here, there’s always going to be a part of me that stays behind.” -- Keane, Scarborough

“The photography has been brilliant…I’ve always loved it but one day I went down to the local bike races and rented out a lens from college, and perched up on some dunes and got some photos. It felt like so much fun.” -- Taylor, Weston-super-Mare

“For me, it has been an amazing place to grow up. I don’t understand why anyone would talk down their home town….So many good things are happening here but nobody is telling those stories.” -- Michael, Blackpool

Polly Braden is a documentary photographer based in London, known for her intimate, long-term collaborations. Her work focuses on overlooked communities and social issues, including learning disabilities, single parenthood, and displacement. Braden’s distinctive style combines quiet observation with deep empathy, often developed over years of sustained engagement.

Her books include China Between (2010), Great Interactions (2016), Out of the Shadows (2018), London’s Square Mile: A Secret City (2019), A Place for Me: 50 Stories of Finding Home (2021) and Holding the Baby (2022). Major exhibitions include Holding the Baby in London, Liverpool, and Bristol, and Leaving Ukraine (2023), a multimedia project tracing the journeys of women displaced by war, presented at the Foundling Museum. She is an associate lecturer at London College of Communication.