The photos will remain in place until after the new yearThe posters can be seen at Moorfields train station alongside a number of others on the Northern lineThe posters can be seen at Moorfields train station alongside a number of others on the Northern line(Image: Colin Lane/Liverpool Echo)

Merseyrail has unveiled a new look for several of its stations for the Christmas and New Year period. A special photographic project showcasing the portraits and words of members of Liverpool’s queer community is now being shown at a dozen stations across the Northern and Wirral lines until February.

Titled Residents, the project was co-commissioned as part of the 2025 edition by Homotopia and Open Eye Gallery, the UK’s longest-running LGBTQIA+ arts and culture festival, which saw a programme of events around the theme ‘Uprising’ taking place across the city during November.

Queer photographer Ming De Nasty spent four months capturing members of the LGBTQIA+ community on camera for the co-commission. The project has already included an exhibition outside the Open Eye Gallery on Mann Island.

Open Eye Gallery’s Bronwyn Andrews, creative producer of Residents, added: “To see queer people existing – publicly, proudly, openly and vibrantly – in the city centre sends a message that there are unique, authentic ways of being the person you are.

One of the photos on show by queer photographer Ming De NastyOne of the photos on show by queer photographer Ming De Nasty(Image: Bronwyn Andrews)

“At a time when LGBTQIA+ people find ourselves under constant attack both culturally and politically, the act of sharing Residents publicly in the city is about more than pictures of people on a wall – it’s about resilience and pride.”

LGBTQIA+ people have long gathered in Liverpool city centre for safety, community and self-expression.

Residents honours that culture by making their presence visible via public artworks, and is a place for queer people of different generations and identities to celebrate each other.

The photographs and accompanying text can be seen at Aughton Park, Birkenhead Central, Eastham Rake, Green Lane, Hamilton Square, James Street, Kirkdale, Maghull North, Moorfields, Rock Ferry, Spital and Town Green.

Nick with his portrait at Eastham Rake. Photograph of Residents by Ming de Nasty, part of Homotopia Festival 2025Nick with his portrait at Eastham Rake. Photograph of Residents by Ming de Nasty, part of Homotopia Festival 2025(Image: Bronwyn Andrews)

Over a 35-year career, portrait and documentary photographer Ming de Nasty has worked on many projects with local and national organisations, including Birmingham’s IKON gallery and Factory International in Manchester and has been exhibited widely in the UK.

Along with being staged by Homotopia, it is also part of the Combined Authority’s wider Photo Here programme.

It is a series of six residencies, one in each borough of the Liverpool City Region, in which a diverse range of established groups have been invited to tell their stories and those of the areas they live in with the help of socially engaged photographers in residence.

Sinead Nunes, Interim Executive Director at Homotopia, said: “Our 2025 festival, Uprising, was an unapologetically defiant and rallying cry against increasing hostility towards LGBTQIA+ people.

“So it feels apt that this exhibition of queer faces – literally reclaiming space in train stations across the Liverpool City Region – continues that message of visibility, resilience and empowerment into 2026”.