In 2021-2022 artist Tim Mills worked as Photographer in Residence in Coventry, as part of Picturing High Streets; a national cultural programme for High Street Heritage Action Zones, led by Historic England, Photoworks, and in the West Midlands, GRAIN Projects.

Using a socially engaged approach, working with local communities, Tim created a contemporary response to The Burges, one of the few traditional historic high street areas surviving in Coventry.

Operating within a small, localised geographical area and, informed by industries that defined the city of the past and those that shape it today, he explored the exchange of goods and services by engaging with shop owners and the wider community in photographic acts and workshops, harnessing the skills and expertise of local businesses to create the art works.

Tim produced a range of small, experimental studies that continue his preoccupation with ideas of transience, place, heritage and community. Using photography, moving image, sound, textiles and performance, the collaborative outcomes feature multiple authors and voices.