Photographer records Bristol's reaction to Colston fall

People's reactions to the toppling of slave trader Edward Colston's statue in Bristol will be turned into a new exhibition.

Photographer Colin Moody is collecting responses to the fall which happened during a Black Lives Matter protest.

The controversial statue was pulled from its plinth and dumped in the harbour on 7 June.

Mr Moody is inviting people to write their feelings about the event directly onto his prints.

The statue had been a source of contention in the city for years, with repeated calls for it to be removed.

It was recovered from Bristol's harbour on 11 June and is set to become a museum exhibit, alongside protestors' placards from the demonstration.

Words written on the prints include "Together we're stronger", "Proud of our city" and "History in the making".

Mr Moody has been documenting the Black Lives Matter marches since 2016 and posted some of his work from 7 June online.

"I took one photograph I call The Wave at the moment a wave of people sent Colston into the water and I had so many comments I thought their words should be preserved," he said.

He has already collected hundreds of written reactions and has offered one of the filled prints to Bristol City Council to be part of its future museum exhibit.

"People come and stare then they kneel down and it's quite moving to see them writing on the images," he said.

"I've had conversations about what the day means to them and ending his (Colston's) shadow over the city."

The exhibition - The Fall of Colston - will be officially launched in a live event on Mr Moody's Facebook and Instagram pages on 3 July, where people watching can have their comments screen-grabbed and digitally added to the image.

It will then be at Bristol Spirit in Redfield from 4 July until 8 August with socially distanced opening.

The prints will then be sold with all profits going to Sari Bristol (Stand Against Racial Inequality).