The Wild City is a participatory photography workshop led by artist Alice Louisa inviting people to collectively imagine a wilder future for Southampton. Through photography prompts, we will explore nearby streets and housing areas, documenting how nature currently appears within the urban environment, in gardens, pavements, balconies, or overlooked green spaces.

Participants will then work together to reimagine these spaces by annotating, collaging, or drawing onto their photographs. They might imagine green roofs, wildlife corridors, community gardens, or streets where nature and housing coexist together.

The workshop introduces elements of socially-engaged photography, encouraging participants to reflect on how housing shapes our relationship with nature and how cities might be designed differently.

Together we’ll create a collective “future vision” of Southampton, combining photographs and imagined interventions. This collaborative artwork will offer a playful and thoughtful way of visualising what a more ecological and community-oriented city could look like.

Outcomes will be shared at Building with Nature, led by Rebecca Kinge and the Southampton Collective, feeding participants’ creative visions directly into discussions with architects, planners, and developers. No photography experience is needed. 

About Alice Louisa

Alice Louisa is a socially-engaged multidisciplinary artist based in Hampshire. She works primarily with analogue photography, extending into installation, arts facilitation and participatory projects. Her practice centres collaboration with individuals and communities, working to amplify their voices through lens-based storytelling.

Her work is shaped by her upbringing and explores themes of class, identity and social experience.

Alice’s workshops and co-creation sessions are rooted in trauma-informed practice and playful engagement, using creativity and imagination to support participants in exploring their stories safely and joyfully. She works with youth groups, community organisations, charities, schools and women’s groups, centering accessibility, care and collaboration, and enabling participants to shape their own narratives.

What to expect at this workshop:

The workshop will feature a photography walk, collage session and collective reflection.

Workshops in the Cafe Extension: Access to the cafe extension is also step free and there is a ramp available should you need it to access the cafe, toilets and rest of the building. The courtyard has step free access from the corner of lower canal walk and town quay road.