Friday 7 April

Hi there,

Firstly I wanted to say a huge thank you for being part of SHE BUILDS UK and I hope you enjoyed the portrait session.

A number of participants openly admitted to feeling uncomfortable about having their photo taken, so knowing that there are individuals who are willing to step out of their comfort zone to support something that I have started is incredibly humbling, and I don’t take that for granted. 

On a personal level, carrying out this project has been great fun, eye-opening, and (at times!) challenging - as an architecture photographer, I’ve been out of my comfort zone, too. I’ve learned a lot about myself (personally and creatively) and feel I’ve grown as an individual and as a professional.

And I want to thank you for giving me that opportunity.

Secondly, I have photographed 61 women, so to select just 20 for printing has been a real task!  Together with my sponsors at Aecom and Bechtel, we have made the selection based on a number of factors to ensure a diverse cross section of the industry (and of the 61) is captured. Willingness to commit to future events or being contacted online, for example, has been key and so, too, have the written profiles.

Unfortunately, on this occasion we haven’t selected your portrait to be printed.

However, we are aiming to have a digital screen as part of the exhibition and plan to use that to display your image, along with all the others who haven’t been selected for print.  This content will also include your name, role, organisation, possibly a short piece about you, and a QR code to help visitors connect with you online. 

The same content will be added to the online exhibition on this website, too. So you are still 100% a valued part of SHE BUILDS UK and your time, effort and support continues to be very much appreciated.

I’m really sorry if you’re disappointed, it’s been a much more difficult task to select the 20 prints than we’d initially expected.

The exhibition will open to the general public on Wednesday 17th May at The Building Centre in London.  Please keep an eye out for a separate email from me in the coming weeks where I’ll share a few of my preferred images of you (ahead of the exhibition) and some promotional content which you’d be welcome (and encouraged!) to share on your social channels.

My sincere thanks to you once again and I really hope you get an opportunity to visit the exhibition.

Neil