Creative Network

We are eager to work with individuals who are located in the areas where we do business and who have firsthand experience and knowledge of their town, city, or village. That's why we established this network—to ensure that we can always tap into local expertise whenever possible while also maintaining a transparent and fair procurement process.

Creative experts apply to be part of our Network for two years by completing a short application form. During the application process, we ask for details about the type of work and skills they have and what regions of the UK they are able to work in.

By joining our network, our experts are invited to work on projects as and when we need them. As a project comes up, we try to select experts who are local to the project/place we are looking to capture assets for and try, where possible, to maintain a diverse range of creative voices on our website and content. We also try to share and celebrate those on our Network with a wider audience too.

PHOTOGRAPHERS (shooting, directing, and post-production)

• Event Coverage: both indoors and outdoors; candid, on-the-fly shots of people; photos that convey the event atmosphere.
• Portraits: high-quality group photos and individual head-and-shoulders shots in a consistent style delivered in colour and black and white.
• Architectural: photos of places taken with an eye for features in the built environment that give the place a sense of character.
• Place-based: natural shots of people at work, including visual cues to convey a sense of story.
• Product: interesting and engaging shots of magazines and other merchandise or products.

VIDEOGRAPHERS (shooting, directing, and post-production)

• Event Coverage: capturing and editing highlights from talks, workshops, and walking tours both indoors and outdoors.
• Interviews: talking head style videos with our Community and their colleagues at local authorities, with the ability to make interviewees feel comfortable.
• Documentary: footage of local authorities’ work in the public realm, including natural shots of local residents interacting with spaces.
• Drone: capturing and utilising drone footage to help tell stories and explain the spatial context of places

JOURNALISTS (research/interviews, copywriting, editing)

• Features: long-form articles that help explain and tell stories of people and places
• Investigative: conducting deep research and inquiry that uncovers the challenges and nuances of placemaking from different perspectives.
• News: shorter articles and press releases giving interesting factual information
• Opinions: capturing our mission and people's viewpoints on current placemaking issues in a unique way

• Aurelia Bergs

We worked with Aurelia to create our Walk to Work video series, which highlighted Associates' career journeys and their motivations for joining the public sector.

• Benoît Grogan-Avignon

Benoît captured photography of our S23 Associate Programme induction, including individual portraits and group shots used for press. We also collaborated with Benoît to capture London-based people and place photography for our Public Notice magazine.

• Bryony Simcox & George Webster (Broaden Films)

Earlier this year, we worked with Broaden Films and their team to capture place-based videography and dynamic moving portraits of Public Practice Alum, Jack Richards, and his team from St Helens Borough Council to support our impact case study.

• Dion Barrett

Dion captured drone photography and place imagery of Belper town in Derbyshire for Public Notice magazine, creating the imagery that we used on the cover! We have also worked with Dion to photograph the S24 Associate Programme induction day which took place in Milton Keynes and our Forum event in Sheffield, to support this topical essay.

• Fiona Finchett

Fiona photographed our A22 Associates at their induction day, creating individual portraits of everyone and capturing the activities throughout the day. We also worked with Fiona whilst collaborating with Broaden Films for the St Helens impact case study. Fiona captured place-based photography of St Helens town and portraits of the team to compliment the video and moving images.

• Solomon Charles-Kelly

We worked with Leeds based photographer, Solomon, whilst producing content for Issue One of Public Notice magazine. Solomon photographed the 'Grey to Green' project, a large scale mix use development that is transforming Leeds city centre.

• Ivan Jones

We collaborated with Ivan on a number of occasions to capture photography of our Learning & Development Course, where Associates are out and about visiting sites across England. Ivan also captured portraits and Associate Programme induction days from 2019 to 2021.

• Tim Smyth

We worked with Tim during 2018 and 2019 to photograph our Associates at their induction and research and development days in London.

• Ellen Pierson

We worked with Ellen to develop our St Helens impact case study. Ellen wrote the case study, interviewing team members from St Helens Borough Council to better understand the impact of diversifying design skills at the council and how this affected housing quality in the area.

• Krish Nathaniel

For Issue One of Public Notice magazine, we held an open call for a journalist to write our 'Place Deep Dive' article, which would become the heart of the magazine. Krish was the successful journalist, and went on to write a detailed and technical article about the development and success of the council-led project, the Ada Belfield Centre and Belper Library in rural Derbyshire.