The son of a coal miner and a chemist, Garry Hunter studied engineering, not art, in his home town of South Shields. Working in photography on assignments worldwide, from Apple in Vegas to the UN in Zinder, he gained major awards in London, LA and New York. Collaboration is key, whether working with residents of the housing estate where he grew up or as visiting artist at Roskilde University, Denmark. He contributed to The Centre For London paper on creative uses of the high street that fed into Mayoral policy from 2021.