Irene Haro, Jock Thomson and Mariana Pires have received a £1,000 grant to develop original photo stories focused on the communities and cultural spaces that matter most to them.
As part of the project, MPB, the global platform for buying, selling and trading used photo and video equipment, provided each photographer with loaned gear to support the creation of their work. The collaboration aims to remove financial barriers, empowering early-career creatives to experiment, refine their process, and tell ambitious visual stories.
The resulting projects span three distinct corners of the UK’s creative landscape. In London, Mariana Pires turns her lens to the Paraiso School of Samba. Her photo essay captures the energy of rehearsals, the group’s deep-rooted community spirit, and the behind-the-scenes labour that powers its year-round programme. Launching on 3 December, it will be accompanied by a recorded voiceover and behind-the-scenes footage.
In Glasgow, Jock Thomson documents the city’s underground queer rave scene, offering an intimate and atmospheric portrait of the spaces where community, resistance and nightlife culture converge. His story will be published on 10 December.
Closing the series is Irene Haro, who focuses on the reopening of Bristol venue The Island. Now led by an all-female management team, the venue’s story becomes the centre of a project exploring renewal, representation and the importance of independent cultural spaces. Her series will go live on 17 December.
Look out for each story launching on crackmagazine.net.