Gradients. Glimpses of Sheffield is a new publication made up of writing and images by students from the Faculty of Arts and Humanities in the University of Sheffield. Over a period of several months worked with the citizens and communities of Sheffield to produce a series of glimpses and fragmentary insights into the city’s life and lives. The brief was to venture out beyond the campus and usual student haunts, in order to deepen their understanding of the peoples, neighbourhoods, and narratives of the city, and learn from these encounters and journeys. Their activity began with a plan to identify and visit communities around the (disputed) ‘seven hills’, using that device to help visualise the varied neighbourhoods and spaces of the city. From there, students frequently followed their own leads and travelled their own paths. All of the pieces in Gradients are creative responses to conversations, journeys, places, and meetings. Many draw on students’ own life experiences to respond to and then represent encounters and places. The result is that texts and images represent a sort of blending of identities – a series of meetings.
In this piece, through words and images, Caitlin James reflects on the boundaries of the city at Ringinglow. Click the image to enlarge.
