The changing faces of Peterborough caught in unique exhibition

A former paramedic who spent more than 40 years photographing the same people decades apart in their city has a major exhibition featuring his artwork.

Chris Porsz spent decades capturing photographs of people in Peterborough and restaged the images, sometimes 30-40 years later, once he had tracked down the subjects again.

His work is showing at Peterborough Museum for three months.

He said photographing the reunions was a “real labour of love”.

The reunions have appeared in two books and have received international acclaim.

Porsz, 70, who is from the cathedral city, had 300 reunions to choose from but had to pick just 165 for the exhibition. They will be displayed across three galleries.

The pictures were taken of random strangers. Then he had to turn detective to track them down years later using local media.

Chris Porsz retired as a paramedic in the pandemic in 2020. He gave up work to look after his wife, Lesley, who he has since lost to breast cancer.

He has used other photographic work to raise money for the oncology ward at Peterborough City Hospital.

Porsz says photographing the reunions was much like his work as a paramedic.

“You always had to be prepared for the unexpected,” he said.

Chris Porsz says: “The concept is accidental. I just took the photos and caught up with them years afterwards. When people took they part in the reunions they loved it, often reminding them of happy times.”

The exhibition at the Peterborough Museum and Art Gallery is free and runs Saturday, 13 January until Saturday, 23 March.