Image: L–R: Rotimi Fani-Kayode, ‘Adebiyi’, 1989 © the artist, photo by Charles Roussel, courtesy Autograph, London, and Hales, London and New York / Simon Roberts, ‘Fountains Fell, Yorkshire Dales, 3 August 2008’ © Simon Roberts, courtesy Flowers Gallery, London and New York / Jyll Bradley, ‘Self-Portrait, Corduroy Jacket’, 1987–2023 (1 of 2) © the artist
Graves Gallery in Sheffield is presenting ‘Lives in Focus – Photography in Sheffield’s Collection’, an exhibition drawn from the city’s collection and focused on photography’s ability to connect personal experience with wider questions of identity, community and belonging. The exhibition opened on Saturday 18 July 2026 and runs until Saturday 27 February 2027, according to Sheffield Museums Trust’s own listing for the show.
At its centre is a group of newly acquired photographic works by Jyll Bradley, Joanne Coates, Rotimi Fani-Kayode, Sunil Gupta and Rene Matić. Sheffield Museums describes the works as offering new perspectives on the themes addressed by the exhibition, with the artists’ own experiences informing the images.
The exhibition’s stated focus extends beyond individual portraiture or documentation. Its presentation frames photography as a way of revealing connections across generations, geographies and shared histories, bringing together images that engage with how people understand themselves and their relationships to communities.
The newly acquired works add to Sheffield’s public collection while also bringing the practices of five artists into a local museum context. The roster spans established and contemporary approaches to photography, and includes artists whose work has addressed questions of identity, representation and lived experience. The trust’s listing names several highlights, among them Rene Matić’s Destination Departure (2020), Rotimi Fani-Kayode’s Adebiyi (1989), Jyll Bradley’s Self-Portrait, Corduroy Jacket (1987–2023) and Simon Roberts’s Fountains Fell, Yorkshire Dales, 3 August 2008, the last of these by an artist outside the group of five new acquisitions.
‘Lives in Focus’ is part of the programme of Sheffield Museums Trust, the charity that operates six of the city’s museums and heritage sites: Abbeydale Industrial Hamlet, Graves Gallery, Kelham Island Museum, Millennium Gallery, Shepherd Wheel Workshop and Weston Park Museum. Graves Gallery is the trust’s dedicated gallery venue within the city’s museum network.
The exhibition is free to visit, with visitors invited to donate £5. Sheffield Museums says that donations help keep its museums and galleries open and available to the public. Further details are provided through the trust’s ‘Lives in Focus’ listing, which gives the venue as Graves Gallery on Surrey Street, Sheffield, and the run as 18 July 2026 to 27 February 2027. The listing also notes that several other displays at the gallery are closed for essential maintenance.
