Black Country Stories

In 2009 we embarked on a creative journey that started with a question, ‘how do we engage and enthuse people living in the Black Country to take part in and be the audience for art projects that represent their lives and experiences, in a truthful and meaningful way, and whilst celebrating the distinctive cultural life of the Black Country?’. We knew that photography, film and local stories could provide a way to make connections with people’s real lives and experiences and for them to contribute their photographs and stories and that the work could be shared back in community and cultural spaces as well as being distributed further afield.

Our first commission was with Martin Parr, a photographer who worked in colour, close-up and with humour and that we hoped local people would relate to. Martin set the standard and helped us to create a foundation for the development of the programme over the next ten years. You can watch the films here.

Black Country Stories

Between 2010 - 2014, Martin Parr was invited by Multistory to make a photographic portrait of the Black Country, (Sandwell, Walsall, Wolverhampton and Dudley), visiting pubs, working men’s clubs, nightclubs, pork pie and scratching factories, Gurdwaras, Mosques, Churches, supermarkets, christenings, summer fayres, high streets, markets, dog shows, and much, much more. Martin also documented the fast disappearing traditional Black Country industries, a tannery and the leather goods factories in Walsall, chain makers and the drop forges in Cradley Heath, aluminium foundries in Wednesbury, brick manufacturing in Dudley.

The thousands of images that Martin made have been edited and captioned and made into a major photographic archive of the region that has been gifted to the partners who supported the project. From the archive we made a tighter edit to create an exhibition that toured the region with a major exhibition and film screenings at The New Art Gallery in Walsall and Wolverhampton Museum and Art Gallery.

As we worked we met many wonderful people and heard their fantastic stories, and on occasion these were too good not to pursue further and we decided to make a series of four short films; Teddy Gray’s Sweet Factory, Mark Goes to Mongolia, Tudor Crystal and Turkey and Tinsel.

Exhibition and project partners: The New Art Gallery Walsall, Wolverhampton Museum and Art Gallery.

Funders: Heritage Lottery, Arts Council England

Publication: Black Country Stories Dewi Lewis Publishing

Martin Parr died on 6th December 2025 and we miss his enthusiasm and friendship. He has left an incredible legacy that lives on through the Martin Parr Foundation in Bristol.