Since graduating with a BA (Hons) Photography from The Northern School of Art in 2016, Rachel Deakin has developed an artistic practice rooted in photography and moving image, drawing inspiration from her immediate surroundings and the landscapes of the North East.
Based in Middlesbrough, Rachel’s work explores the relationship between landscape, memory and change, often focusing on post-industrial environments and the traces left by communities and industry. Her practice combines photography, moving image, collage and found objects, creating layered narratives from familiar places and everyday experiences.
Rachel has exhibited widely across the North East and beyond, including at MIMA, Middlesbrough Institute of Modern Art, where her work was included in The Secret Lives of Bottle of Notes as part of a collaboration with sound artist Nell Catchpole. She has also presented work through exhibitions and projects at The Auxiliary, VARC, GLOAM Gallery in Sheffield and Village Books in Manchester. Her solo exhibition A Monday Night in Middlesbrough opened at Industrial Coast in 2025 before travelling to Manchester.
Her practice has also been supported through an Arts Council England Developing Your Creative Practice grant and an AA2A residency at Sunderland University. During her AA2A residency, Rachel developed new photographic and moving-image work, including a black-and-white film photograph taken at South Gare using a half-frame camera and hand-printed in the darkroom.
Rachel continues to be actively involved in the North East’s creative community. She is a co-founder of photography collective WAX and a studio holder at The Auxiliary Project Space in Middlesbrough, while continuing to develop new work inspired by the people, places and environments around her.
Website: https://www.instagram.com/racheldeakin_/
Instagram: https://www.racheldeakin.com/