Tracks03 – Hellen Songa

HELLEN SONGA TRACKS :

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Photography has been more than a tool for me. It has been a thread that ties together ancestry, activism and art.

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LAYING THE GROUNDWORK FOR ECOLOGICAL PRACTICE

My social artist journey is deeply linked to my family, creative curiosity and a lifelong connection to environmental care. I was raised between cultures and continents. I am Zambian-Rwandan and British. My creative expression was nurtured by grandma, who is Rwandan. She runs an art gallery called The Missing Peace Art Space in Dayton, Ohio, alongside her friend Gabriela, a Mexican artist and activist. Their space was filled with colour, tradition and intention; selling Gabriela’s paintings, her son’s portraiture work and artisan crafts sourced from Rwandan and Mexican makers. My grandmother invested in artisans using natural materials like wood and cotton, and holiday cards made with banana leaves. And together they would produce the Annual Day of the Dead procession marches downtown.

She crafts clothes with traditional Rwandan fabrics and handmade jewellery from recycled magazines.

She sells at regional markets, and the proceeds are often sent towards children’s education back home. She had a deep love for orchestrating family gatherings like weddings. My cousins and I were always involved, helping in the kitchen, making jewellery or choreographing traditional dance for each celebration. Her ethic of sharing, nature connection, and cultural pride laid the groundwork for my ecological practice.

“MY GRANDMA’S ETHIC OF SHARING, NATURE CONNECTION, AND CULTURAL PRIDE LAID THE GROUNDWORK FOR MY ECOLOGICAL PRACTICE.”

I lived with my grandma between the ages of sixteen to nineteen. At eighteen, Instagram was emerging, and I started posting my visual art online. It became a digital archive without any career intentions.

FROM BUSINESS MANAGEMENT TO PHOTOJOURNALISM

Despite aspirations to study in the U.S., the cost was too high, even with scholarships and family support. I didn’t want to create financial pressure, so I returned to the UK and studied Business Management at the University of Chester. My creativity took a backseat to coursework on business proposals, marketing, financial management and sustainable entrepreneurship, but those skills proved invaluable later, when I began writing and managing creative projects. In 2019, while writing my final year

dissertation, I was approached by a photographer who asked to take my portrait, which I accepted. He introduced me to photojournalism and let me borrow a book that changed my life: In Our Time: The World Seen By Magnum Photographers. Paging through those images, I knew that photojournalism was what I wanted to try. I moved to Liverpool that year to pursue it.

“MY CREATIVITY TOOK A BACKSEAT TO COURSEWORK ON BUSINESS PROPOSALS, MARKETING, FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT AND SUSTAINABLE ENTREPRENEURSHIP, BUT THOSE SKILLS PROVED INVALUABLE LATER.”

To support myself, I took various jobs while navigating a new city. I enrolled in a Fast-Track Diploma in Journalism at City of Liverpool College and excelled in the videography module. I began documenting local activism, including the Hong Kong solidarity protests in Manchester, MeToo protests in Chester and climate justice actions in Liverpool, using only my phone. I called this project Capturing: Humans of People Power, and some of the work was published as the front and back cover of Rooted Zine Issue 10: Revolution of Our Time. I also wrote an article on Farm Urban’s Greens For Good launch for the Baltic Triangle.

FIRST PHOTOJOURNALISM COMMISSION: DOCUMENTING COMMUNITY GARDEN VOLUNTEERS

In 2020, I discovered volunteering opportunities at Open Eye Gallery and joined the Front of House team. I must have worked one shift before the first COVID lockdown happened. During that period, I bought my first camera, a cheap second hand Fujifilm X-10, which was enough for me to learn how to use a digital camera and keep practising. I joined the gallery’s online Discord community, where volunteers continued sharing what they were creating, ideas and updates. I was invited to contribute to Issue three of Platform, the gallery’s volunteer-run digital zine, themed ‘Hope’. I submitted street photography taken during my daily walks. Those experiments gave me the confidence to try portrait photography, sometimes asking strangers, “What does freedom mean to you?” and sharing their

portraits and reflections on Instagram.

In 2021, after the lockdowns, my dad told me he had bought land in Zambia and asked me to help direct the project. I had no farming experience, just memories of my grandmother growing maize and pumpkins in her back garden. To gain some practical knowledge, I applied for a job as an Environmental Projects Assistant at Groundwork UK and supported a community garden in Speke. Around the same time, Open Eye Gallery was preparing for its 2022 LOOK Climate Lab and invited me to a meeting. I received my first photojournalism commission: to document community garden volunteers across Liverpool. I cycled around the city to places like Bootle, Toxteth, Everton and Speke, capturing 70 portraits and stories. With support from then-curator Mariama Attah, we selected 20 portraits to exhibit as Volunteer Voices. The project was shown both outside and inside the gallery, and their stories were archived online on Open Eye Stories.

Seeing volunteers come to visit and celebrate each other was a proud moment, and the exhibition received amazing feedback, including one comment that stood out: “It’s amazing to do community-centered workshops and have members of the community on the wall look at you (Hellen’s work) – it made you feel part of something.” I also collaborated with Galdem magazine to write an article about some of these stories, which was also shared on Liverpool Food Growers Network’s website.

EXPLORING FOOD GROWING, IDENTITY AND ACTIVISM

Following that, Sarah Fisher, Open Eye Gallery’s executive director, supported me in applying for my first Arts Council England National Lottery Project Grant. I was planning a 5-week trip to Zambia to meet my dad after more than 23 years of separation. I was also excited to visit our organic farm, and the grant helped me document the land. This became Mwalula, an exhibition exploring food growing and identity across continents at Open Eye Gallery’s 2-month LOOK Photo Biennial. My photographs from Zambia were also exhibited at four community gardens in the city, and I was invited to speak on the panel of the Rooting For The Future Public Conversation at the gallery, alongside others involved in supporting the Liverpool Food Growers Network.

The project also involved me delivering visual storytelling workshops at four Liverpool community gardens. Throughout, the Open Eye Gallery team helped me with mentorship, materials and other in-kind support. I learned how to professionally manage an arts project and budget, source eco-friendly workshop materials and local catering, and curate socially engaged events with care. I facilitated 8 workshops attended by over 40 gardeners, many of whom produced writing and photographs that were later curated into a magazine I designed with a second Arts Council grant. Culture of Growing was launched with local food and drinks at Unity Theatre.

“I

LEARNED HOW TO PROFESSIONALLY MANAGE AN ARTS PROJECT AND BUDGET, SOURCE ECO-FRIENDLY WORKSHOP MATERIALS AND LOCAL CATERING, AND CURATE SOCIALLY ENGAGED EVENTS WITH CARE.”

The momentum continued. My skills as a photographer and involvement in grassroots community ecological activism meant that I was often involved in diverse commissions and freelance work related to these themes. I exhibited photographs commissioned by Scouse Flowerhouse taken during their wildflower seed harvest in Everton Park, shown on Open Eye Gallery’s digital window gallery. I helped interview candidates for the CVAN NW Climate Justice Producer role and later joined the Embracing Possibilities artist cohort – a networking, skills sharing and career development opportunity. Through this, I was exposed to artists involved in similar socially engaged practices. That led me to collaborate with one of the artists on a cyanotype photography workshop as part of my second ACE grant.

FOCUS ON SUSTAINABILITY

At the end of 2022, I knew it was time to upgrade from my old, budget camera. With support from the Becky Garnault Fund, I received £859 to purchase a Fujifilm X-T2. Having a sharper and more reliable camera allowed me to create better personal and commissioned work. My focus on sustainability continued through my participation in Redeye

Photography Network’s Climate Literacy programme, where I became a certified Climate Aware Photographer.

In 2023, I was proud to win the ‘Living Sustainably’ category in the Open Eye Gallery’s Liverpool City Region Photo Awards. I also co-delivered the Big Seed Sow online campaign in collaboration with the Royal Horticultural Society and Open Eye Gallery. I also joined their Socially Engaged Photography Training Programme and was invited to be a Teaching Assistant intern for three months for the BsA in Photography and Social Practice at UCEN Manchester. I worked with the Department Leaders to support students in confidently co-authoring a socially engaged photography project assignment aligned with the touring European Poetry Festival.

Another pivotal moment was being selected for a professional peermentorship programme with Craig Easton, connected to his Our Time, Our Place exhibition at Williamson Art Gallery & Museum. We were funded to be mentored, print our work and exhibit, but it wasn’t a commission so I needed financial support to enable me to commit to this programme. That is what inspired my next Arts Councilfunded project: Queer Ecology Silent Spring. I brought together my networks to design a series of creative commons events, including film screenings, multidisciplinary participatory nature-art workshops,

outdoor exhibitions, all hosted in public and community spaces in Toxteth, Liverpool. The final exhibition at Northern Eye Festival, Princes Park, Squash Liverpool’s cafe garden in Toxteth and Williamson Art Gallery and Museum featured portraits and storytelling from Liverpool-based artists and participants.

“I

BROUGHT TOGETHER MY NETWORKS TO DESIGN A SERIES OF CREATIVE COMMONS EVENTS, INCLUDING FILM SCREENINGS, MULTIDISCIPLINARY PARTICIPATORY NATURE-ART WORKSHOPS, OUTDOOR EXHIBITIONS.”

In 2024, Open Eye Gallery commissioned me again for their LOOK Climate Lab, this time to document environmental work in both my motherland and fatherland, Rwanda and Zambia respectively. This was a very personal journey involving meeting my great grandma, exploring my ancestral landscapes and learning about African agroecology principles. I travelled with Erick Otieno (@shot.by.ote) and we made images and short films about contemporary environmental community efforts in both nations.

NATURE-BASED STORYTELLING

Today, I call myself a freelance photographer, creative producer and educator focusing on naturebased storytelling and community environmentalism.

In 2023, I was artist-in-residence at Granby Winter Garden, in Toxteth, Liverpool, where we explored the local community food network. I partnered with local caterers to host supper clubs using foraged, harvested and locally sourced ingredients, documenting the process from land to plate. The resulting work was exhibited both inside and outside the winter garden. That same year, I was commissioned

to photograph youth food activism workshops with Greenpeace UK, sold previous exhibition prints at Smithdown Social Art Hub and completed Nature Guide training with The Visionaries UK. They commissioned me to document the regenerative educator programme as well as assist wild youth camps. I continue to support Squash Liverpool as both a freelance Associate Artist, Community Food Garden Support and Board Member.

This year, I worked with Tate Liverpool to co-curate creative interventions in their family space for The Plant That Stowed Away exhibition. This included sharing photographs from

my travels in Zimbabwe and facilitating different nature art workshops. I was also commissioned by Tate to lead photography workshops with Kitty’s Launderette. Separately, I worked with Scouse Flowerhouse as a freelance producer for their lecture with Fergus Garrett at the Museum of Liverpool. Additionally, Metal Culture gave me the opportunity to visit Studio459, an artist residency in Tomar, Portugal, where I was given space to rest, play, and openly explore my artistic and herbalism practice alongside other socially engaged artists. I also received valuable advice and mentorship from our co-host Mark Richards, previously a Relationship Manager at Arts Council England and as CEO of Metal Culture. Currently, I’m a part-time intern with the BIPOC Herbalism Conference.It feels like everything I’ve worked towards has led to this. Merging visual storytelling, nature education and community work,

I support their social media content creation, online community building, and will help coordinate online and in-person African herbalism courses. Through my networks, I have received further opportunities to support UK and international creative wellness retreats as a nature guide and herbalism workshop facilitator, and have begun a new exciting role as a part-time Land Stewardship Lead at The Beeches Collective Limited in the Peak District.

My future goals are grounded in the same values that shaped me: care, creativity and community. I want to continue working as a visual storyteller, creative producer and develop into art and wellness retreat programming. My biggest goal is for my farm to be a place of learning, healing and storytelling.

“MY FUTURE GOALS ARE GROUNDED IN THE SAME VALUES THAT SHAPED ME: CARE, CREATIVITY AND COMMUNITY.”

Photography has been more than a tool for me. It has been a thread that ties together ancestry, activism and art. And Open Eye Gallery has been one of the organisations that recognised, nurtured and amplified that thread for me. I admire the gallery team for the work put into curating their exhibitions and community outreach, and the opportunities to contribute to their work have been very meaningful and empowering.

Tracks is a series of case-study-style publications looking at the professional and personal development of an individual. Published by Open Eye Gallery, Tracks considers where an individual and the gallery have intersected or continue to intersect; a record of shared values, learning and impact.

2026