We need your help! Donate and #SAVESIDE
Photographed in 1993, this quiet portrait of Sunniside in South West Durham was developed as part of the Unclear Family international photography workshop based in Crook. French photographer Véronique Lespérat-Héquet spent three weeks in the region alongside twelve other photographers from across Europe, each exploring everyday life in a different corner of the West Durham coalfield.
Lespérat-Héquet chose Sunniside for its small scale and sense of familiarity. A village built for coal, its pit long closed, it reflected the story of many ex-mining communities across the region. The resulting images are understated and closely observed, shaped by Lespérat-Héquet’s characteristic attention to gesture and place. Sunniside becomes both a specific location and a shared landscape of post-industrial experience.
Véronique Lespérat-Héquet is a French photographer whose work is rooted in social observation and community engagement. Often focusing on everyday life in rural and semi-urban settings, her practice explores themes of belonging, transition and cultural identity. Her approach blends portraiture with a strong sense of place, capturing moments of quiet connection within the communities she documents.
She was a key participant in the Unclear Family international photography workshops, held in Crook, County Durham in 1993. Her images from this period are marked by a close attentiveness to domestic detail and landscape, evoking both distance and intimacy.
Lespérat-Héquet’s work with Side and Amber reflects a shared interest in cross-cultural dialogue and the visual exchange of lived experience. Her photographs contribute to a broader understanding of place, tracing the quiet patterns that define local life.
