Documentary Photography

Africa

• Post conflict: Documenting the aftermath of Genocide and Conflict in Africa for the survivors and the children. In Rwanda, child headed households were everywhere: children looking after children because all the adults in the their lives are dead. In Sierra Leone and Sudan, tens of thousands of children waited in displacement camps as they were separated from their parents. In South Africa, grandmothers care for their grandchildren as all their own siblings have died from AIDS.

India and Nepal

• NGO DOCUMENTARY PROJECTS: Documenting the work of Help The Aged, supporting a vulnerable elderly population across India, from the slums in Delhi to the Tsunami affected coastal areas. In a small town called Mathura, birthplace of Lord Krishna, over 5000 widows are given support and shelter in return for chanting 'Hare Krishna' 4 times daily in one of the many temples. As well as the widows, there is a small number of western pilgrams. In Nepal the documentation included that of child labourers and street children living in the remote area of Pokhara.

Croatia

• Enter the Balkans: Chris worked as a social reconstruction project volunteer project in war torn Pakrac, Croatia in 1996. The town was 90% destroyed and divided - all the Serbs had fled leaving behind a small elderly population, too old and stubborn to let fear move them. The fields surrounding the town were littered with landmines, occasionally being triggered by foxes and dogs. For the next 6 months this was home, his first outset into photography and an experience that would shape Chris's documentary work.

KOSOVO

• The aftermath of the conflict in Kosovo: A 4-day assignment in Pristina, Prizen and Mitrovica. Social and family breakdown is rife throughout Kosovo as people come to terms with high unemployment, trauma, and post traumatic stress. Young girls at risk of trafficking are cared for in supported shelters. Roma community villages are surrounded and protected by NATO troops to fend off attack from ethnic Albanians who claim the Roma sided with the Serbs during the conflict. Thousands of people are still unaccounted for, missing, presumed dead – their fading images stamped on posters throughout the major towns and cities.

Glasgow Renaissance

• Photography and multimedia project that documents Glasgow as it undergoes a widescale regeneration project: Amidst this ‘Glasgow Renaissance’ whole communities, housing schemes and areas are disappearing. From the demolition of Stalinist post war high rise flats, to the levelling of Dalmarnock the death of the ‘old’ is in full swing.

Visit project website – Glasgow Renaissance >

Sarajevo – Before / After

• 1996 - 2012: Photographing from the same spot over a 10-16 year period in Sarajevo

STATE INSTITUTIONS

• One million children live in state institutions in Europe: Labeled by many people as 'orphanages' - Eastern Europe littered with these institutions, where poverty and a poorly resourced or no existent social care system forces parents to abandon their children with the old communist doctrine that the state will care for them. The photographs above are from Romania, Ukraine, Moldova and Bulgaria.

BALKAN ARCHIVE

• SLIDESHOW: Photographs taken from the archive collection from Sarajevo 1996 - 2012

MOBILE PHOTOGRAPHY

• MOBILE PHOTOGRAPHY: Pictures taken with the I-phone across a range of locations from Tanzania, Zimbabwe, Moldova, Glasgow, Dubai and Morocco

SCOTLAND

• SCOTLAND Travelogue: Photographs from across Scotland, from personal projects to corporate shoots - from Foula - an island of 28 people off the coast of Shetland, to Kyntyre and Arran

USA

• USA Travelogue: Photographs from a holiday road trip across the USA, from small town Lock Haven to Miami and NYC and the infamous Coney Island Mermaid Parade

Finding Family

• Feature Length Documentary: Capturing one orphan’s extraordinary journey as he heads back to Bosnia 20 years on from the snipers and shelling in search of answers from his long lost family. Currently negotiating broadcast.

The Bird Man of Red Road

• Short Film: Built in 1967, the Red Road flats in Glasgow were once home to over 4500 people. Now most of the blocks have been emptied and demolition has already begun. Jamal Hamad, a failed Iraqi Kurdish asylum seeker, has lived alone in one block for several months. The demolition company are keen to move on with the demolition preparation but Jamal is refusing to move. If he does move out, he fears eviction from the UK- and if he returns to his homeland, as instructed by the UK Border Agency, he believes he will be killed- just like his parents and brothers several years ago. Living in the block alone is dangerous; but Jamal sees no other choice.

Destitution

• DOCUMENTARY CAMPAIGN FILM: Commissioned by British Red Cross and Scottish Refugee Council this short film follows the lives of 3 destitute asylum seekers over a 9 month period in Glasgow. The film was used for a nationwide campaign calling for an end to destitution of failed asylum seekers.

Jaconelli

55 & 75 Plean St

• Multimedia Short Film : Documents using photography, audio and timelapse photography the demolition of two high rise flats in Scostoun, Glasgow from Summer to Winter 2010

Sighthill

• MA Multimedia short film: Documents three condemned high rise flats before demolition, with interviews from former and current residents

The Oatlands

• MA Multimedia short film: documents the disappearance and rebuilding of the Oatlands housing scheme in the south of the Glasgow.

Red Road Underground

• Multimedia Short Film: Documents the last days of Glasgow’s iconic Red Road Flats in the form of a ‘hidden’ underground bingo hall and a nautically themed bar called The Brig.

Paddy’s Market

• MA Multimedia short film: Documents the fight to save the historic flea market in the city centre over a year long period

Charity Films Showreel

• CLIENTS:: Big Lottery Fund, Help The Aged, British Red Cross, Scottish Refugee Council, Lumos, Mary's Meals

Corporate Films

• WEST Brewery: Short web based film promoting the Brewery as a unique wedding venue

DOCUMENTARY CAMPAIGN FILMS

• DOCUMENTARY CAMPAIGN FILM: Commission by British Red Cross and Scottish Refugee Council this short film follows the lives of 3 destitute asylum seekers over a 9 month period in Glasgow. The film was used for a nationwide campaign calling for an end to destitution of failed asylum seekers.

CAMERA WORK

• PRODUCTION BY www.jandhigham.com: Location camera by Chris Leslie

exhibitions

• More info here: from Lloyds of London trading floor to a market stall in the Barra's Market Glasgow

Artists Residencies

• iconic artists in iconic places: June 2013 - September 2013 - Film,Photo Exhibition and Installation

Educational Projects

• Multimedia and Photography projects: Setting up and running documentary / educational projects from traditional darkroom techniques to multimedia editing for adults and children from the Olympia building in Glasgow, to the Dalmarnock Youth pre commonwealth games, to a self initiated and funded project in Sarajevo Orphanage

The Old Mens Club

• COMMUNITY PHOTO PROJECT: Working alongside the men of the Springburn Old Men's Club this short multimedia film was created using audio and still archive contributions from the club as well as Chris's own photography around Springburn Park in Glasgow