99 Peace Walls is two things; a beginning of an explorative journey of Northern Ireland and a continuation of an earlier project undertaken in Birmingham, which focussed on the Irish community. After spending time in Digbeth documenting the ageing and dwindling Irish population, Josh rounded things off by producing a dummy book. He then decided to turn his attention to the inhabitants of Belfast, and balanced working at the annual Photo Festival 2017 with photographing the start of this new project.
As a foreigner to the country, Josh was provided with an opportunity to observe and witness the city's people, but also to engage as an outsider, which does not necessarily equate to being distant. He was met with an apparent social, religious and political divide among the people of East and West Belfast, but did not aim to obviously portray this within his photographs. However, the politics of the city clearly had an effect, whether subconsciously or not. The Union Jack colour scheme is sprinkled throughout the series; the tracksuit top of the girl with hooped earrings, the bunting strung across the garden and even the 'PAW Patrol' toy car parked outside the West Peace Wall.
These photographs were all taken within a two week time frame in both ends of the city. This work is ongoing. Josh hopes to revisit Belfast, explore other parts of Northern Ireland and possibly venture into the Republic of Ireland too.