Across a four month commission, I worked with Butterfly Conservation and Leeds City Council to document the Leeds Wild Spaces project, capturing the people, places and wildlife at the heart of a city-wide initiative to create new habitats for butterflies, moths and other pollinators.

Creating Wild Spaces Across Leeds

Part of Butterfly Conservation’s national Wild Spaces programme, Leeds Wild Spaces aimed to improve biodiversity by creating new wildflower meadows across public green spaces in Leeds, while encouraging local communities to connect with nature.

Working in partnership with Leeds City Council, the project brought together volunteers, schools and members of the public through planting sessions, educational workshops and wildlife activities, helping raise awareness of the importance of protecting natural habitats.

A Collaborative Approach to Documentary Photography

I worked closely with project coordinator Josh Shaw to develop a photography schedule designed to maximise coverage and deliver the greatest value from the project’s photography budget. I proposed a series of shorter shoots spread throughout the project. This allowed us to capture a broad range of activities, locations and participants as the work progressed.

The photographs were used throughout the project to support social media updates, blog posts and promotional activities, while also featuring extensively in the final project reports shared with stakeholders. Together, they formed a comprehensive image library documenting the many different aspects of Leeds Wild Spaces.

Documenting the Project from Spring to Summer

Across a series of seven shoots, I photographed everything from early plug planting and seed sowing sessions at Woodhouse Moor and Hunslet Moor Park to wildlife identification workshops, school activities, butterfly walks and moth trapping at Temple Newsam and Rein Park.

The project concluded with a special celebration event at Leeds City Museum, bringing together those involved to reflect on its achievements.

Each session offered a different perspective on Leeds Wild Spaces, providing opportunities to document the people, activities and environments that shaped the project. Together, these photographs created a varied visual record of the initiative as it developed throughout spring and summer.

Capturing Authentic Moments and Creating Emotional Connections

My approach to documentary photography has always centred around people – Capturing natural, authentic moments that tell a story and create a genuine emotional connection with the viewer. For Leeds Wild Spaces, that meant looking beyond the activities themselves to capture the enthusiasm, curiosity and sense of community that brought the project to life.

Whether it was volunteers working together to establish new habitats, children discovering wildlife during a school workshop or members of the public exploring their local green spaces, I wanted the photographs to communicate something of the experience itself. Images that help people imagine being there, encourage them to connect with the story and, importantly, inspire them to get involved.

Alongside this human-centred approach, I incorporated wider environmental photography and close-up macro images of wildflowers, butterflies, moths and other insects. These smaller details were just as important to the visual narrative, introducing colour, texture and a different perspective to the wider collection. By revealing the intricate beauty of the natural world, the macro photography helped highlight the biodiversity the project was working to protect and the wildlife that can exist right on our doorsteps.

Ultimately, Leeds Wild Spaces was about more than creating new wildflower meadows. A central ambition was to inspire people to create Wild Spaces of their own, whether in a garden, on a balcony or within their local community. I wanted the photography to support that ambition, creating imagery that not only celebrated the project’s achievements but also encouraged people to look more closely at the nature around them and consider how they could make a difference themselves.

The Impact of Leeds Wild Spaces

By the project’s conclusion, more than 1,000 adults and children had engaged with the initiative, with seven new wildflower meadow areas created across Leeds and over 30 community engagement events delivered.

Beyond these achievements, the project has established a lasting legacy, with plans in place to manage and maintain the new habitats for the benefit of local wildlife and communities.

You can read more about the project’s achievements in Butterfly Conservation’s final Leeds Wild Spaces update.

“Simon provided images for our Leeds Wild Spaces project- great to work with, excellent images and very flexible.”

Sammy Fraser – Wild Spaces Officer, Butterfly Conservation