BCA Bids Farewell to Celebrated ‘Community Portrait’ Showcase

The Exhibition

After five months of celebrating local faces and stories, Bedford Creative Arts’ Community Portrait exhibition at The Higgins Bedford has come to a close. Launched on 28 September 2024, the exhibition brought together over 200 portraits of Bedford residents, captured by a mix of school-age children, Bedford College students, community groups and professional photographers. The show combined a striking blend of historic and contemporary techniques – from 1840s glass plates to digital photography and emerging AI; the exhibition offered a rich and reflective portrait of Bedford, past, present and future.

In partnership with Fujifilm, Community Portrait gave local people the chance to create their own portraits through artist-led workshops. Hosted in schools, community centres, Bedford College, and The Higgins Bedford, participants used both cutting-edge Fujifilm cameras and historic techniques like cyanotype and glass-plate photography, guided by artist David

Exploring AI

Whilst delving into more traditional photography, Community Portrait also looked to the future. J.E.S.S. (Just Exploring Systemic Stereotypes) became a main feature throughout the project, an interactive AI installation by artists Arnab Chakravarty and Fergus Laidlaw. Shown at both The Higgins and the BEYOND 2024 conference, J.E.S.S. invited audiences to explore how AI interprets community images. Visitors could insert human-taken photographs into a hybrid projector-scanner, which converted them to text and then back to images using AI, revealing the often-surprising gaps between human intention and machine interpretation.

In a time when AI tools are increasingly used to shape visual culture, J.E.S.S. encouraged critical reflection on bias, representation, and authorship. This offered a powerful contrast to the human stories captured throughout the exhibition and provides plenty of food for thought going forward.

Reprint Revolution Symposium

On 14 January 2025, Bedford Creative Arts hosted Community Portrait: Reprint Revolution, a one-day symposium examining the intersection of AI and community image-making. Held as part of the Community Portrait exhibition programme, the event featured panel discussions and talks exploring algorithmic bias, fair representation, and the creative potential of AI in socially engaged art.

Speakers included J.E.S.S. artists Fergus Laidlaw and Arnab Chakravarty, Bedford College lecturer Grete Dalum-Tilds, digital participation expert John Whall, and artist-educator Andee Collard. The symposium offered a timely reflection on how artists and communities can navigate and shape the future of visual culture through emerging technologies.

Reception and Impact

The Community Portrait exhibition welcomed over 5,000 visitors during its run, generating strong public interest and sparking important conversations about representation, community, and the role of emerging technologies in the arts. For many of the participating community groups and individuals; being featured in a professional gallery setting and engaging in hands-on workshops allowed them to develop confidence, creative skills, and a sense of belonging. The inclusion of J.E.S.S. prompted meaningful dialogue around AI, bias, and authorship, with interest from other organisations in taking the installation on tour. The exhibition has not only celebrated Bedford’s diverse communities but has also provided inspiration and a model for future photography exhibitions that are inclusive, experimental, and socially engaged.