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Simon Bray's new book reveals touching photographs and stories that explore loss

Manchester-based photographer Simon Bray has launched his first publication from his Loved&Lost project, which invites people to explore their experience of loss through the re-staging of precious family photographs.

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All images courtesy of Simon Bray. Via CB submission

All images courtesy of Simon Bray. Via CB submission

Available to pre-order on Kickstarter, the book is designed by Craig Oldham and includes various stories from willing volunteers.

"The project began six years ago after the loss of my father and has become even more poignant for me since the loss of my younger sister last year, the strongest possible reminder that it's important to share our stories of loss and how we find our way through the grief that comes with it," says Bray.

Loved&Lost has since reached an audience of over three million people worldwide and has exhibited across the UK, with an upcoming show at Weston Park Museum, Sheffield, opening this December.

One such volunteer is Nicola who said: "When someone dies, it can be so shocking and you feel like it ought to be very very noisy, like people banging drums and playing trombones and shouting, and actually, it’s very quiet, because that person's gone, so you don't hear their voice anymore. After the funeral, you are left in a very quiet place, sometimes that can feel wrong because the feelings aren't very quiet."

You can discover more about Simon Bray's project at lovedandlostproject.co.uk.

Left: archival photograph of two young boys in dark tracksuits at a gravesite. Right: adult man recreating the same pose at the same location decades later
Simon Bray stands by a river lined with trees, looking off into the distance under a cloudy sky
Left: Crowd of spectators seated in stadium stands wearing winter clothing. Right: Man in dark jacket seated alone among empty blue stadium seats
Blue and white striped football shirt with "TORRY 9" printed on the back, draped over a stadium seat among rows of empty blue chairs
Side-by-side photographs from Simon Bray's Loved&Lost project showing the same location in a city overlooking rooftops, decades apart, with a couple on the left and a woman in a magenta jumper on the right
Woman with short grey hair and glasses wearing a magenta cardigan stands against a hillside town landscape with metal railings
Left: four people in 1970s clothing pose together on a beach holding a white wedding dress. Right: an elderly woman stands beside a concrete stone marker in a moorland landscape
A wooden bench sits in an overgrown field with bare trees and hills visible in the misty background
Two panels showing volunteers recreating precious family photographs; left panel shows a young man and woman smiling at the camera outdoors by the sea, right panel shows a woman smiling at the camera wearing a scarf and dark jacket
Green railing overlooking a calm, grey sea and horizon beneath an overcast sky
Pale green book cover by Simon Bray titled "5 stories of loss" with large black ampersand and "LOST" text on front cover
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