Photography Exhibition Showcased Skegness Women
A British telephone box in Germany now displays portrait stories of 23 residents from Skegness.
Updated on Sept. 19, 2026 in Women’s Issues
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Artist John Byford launched a photography exhibition in Bad Gandersheim, Germany, featuring the stories of 23 women from Skegness, Lincolnshire. The project, titled Her/Sie, utilizes a classic British phone box to display the portraits and interviews.
Why it matters
The installation serves as a cultural bridge between the twinned towns of Skegness and Bad Gandersheim. It also honors the legacy of 10th-century writer Roswitha during the German town’s ongoing celebrations.
The exhibition highlights 23 women ranging in age from 23 to 96. These personal stories are curated within the confined space of a British-style telephone box situated in Lower Saxony.
The players
John Byford
He is the artist who traveled to Skegness to interview and photograph the subjects for the Her/Sie project.
Roswitha
She was a 10th-century German writer whose legacy is currently being celebrated in the town of Bad Gandersheim.
The details
Artist John Byford captured the portraits and personal interviews of the local women to create the Her/Sie project. The phone box serves as a unique, intimate gallery space for these individual narratives.
Timeline
The 10th century marked the lifetime of the writer Roswitha.
The photography exhibition opened on September 19, 2026.
Culture Shift
The photography installation in Bad Gandersheim follows the community-led effort to commemorate the historical legacy of 10th-century writer Roswitha. This blending of contemporary personal narratives with medieval history highlights a trend of using civic art to bridge generations.
Visitors to Bad Gandersheim can engage with the exhibition by exploring the unique phone box display in the city center. The project offers residents and tourists a chance to view multigenerational perspectives on the lives of women from the twinned town of Skegness.
The takeaway
The project demonstrates how simple, repurposed infrastructure can act as a vessel for complex human storytelling on a global stage. It highlights how twinning initiatives between towns can foster deep, long-term cultural and personal exchanges.
Further reading
Discover more about similar international projects in our Women’s Issues section.
Source note: This article includes information reported by BBC.
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