Turkish Baths

The Turkish baths shows a community of people that use this historic space in the city of Carlisle. The baths were described as a ‘pub without beer’ and a ‘great leveller’, the mix of people who use it is vast. An old fashioned place that has so far survived over the years, feels even more important after so many were starved of human connection during the pandemic. This place that has served the people of Carlisle for decades, where troubles can be shared or forgotten and spirits lifted is sadly under threat of closure. It is this worrying situation that prompted me to take theses portraits - in the hope of showing the importance of this unique and historic space to the real people who use it. The threat of closure hangs heavy.