Shut In, Shut Out” — Robert Ashby Exhibition Confronts Inequality and Belonging in a Divided Britain
As the UK wrestles with deepening divisions over immigration, wealth inequality, and the erosion of social infrastructure, Robert Ashby former Humanist UK CEO and socially engaged professional photographer brings a powerfully human lens to Brighton.
His exhibition “Shut In, Shut Out”, now showing at Mid Street Lab in Kemptown, unites for the first time three of his most compelling photographic series. Together, they probe how aspiration, exclusion, and belonging are shaped, not just by personal choices, but by the spaces and systems around us.
Ashby’s work is anchored in lived experience. A longtime London resident, he documented the gentrification of Notting Hill and the tragedy of Grenfell Tower, which stands as a stark national warning. That image — quiet, devastating — closes the show, asking viewers: What happens when neglect becomes policy?
Brighton faces its own crossroads. Rapid development, short-termism, and cultural underinvestment risk pushing out the very communities that make the city vibrant. Yet here, unlike in many places, a creative and generous civic spirit still runs deep and Ashby’s exhibition asks whether that spirit can be a shield against repeating the mistakes of elsewhere.
“Shut In Shut Out” invites the public to reflect not just on the cost of inequality, but on the power of collective imagination to choose a different path.
On view: 11–25 October
Mid Street Lab, 80 St George’s Rd, Kemptown, Brighton
Closing: Sat 25
