Our Team
Ellie Waters
Meet Ellie! Co-Director of Subsocial Collective.
I'm Ellie, I'm a photographer from Greater Manchester with over ten years' experience working alongside communities. I'm passionate about socially engaged arts and using creativity to bring people together, share stories, and create meaningful opportunities for participation and connection.
My creative practice explores themes of home, belonging, identity, and community through photography, audio, video, and visual arts. I'm particularly interested in how creativity can help people share their experiences, connect with others, and see their own stories in new ways.
Alongside my artistic work, I develop and deliver creative workshops that use photography as a tool for self-expression, wellbeing, and connection. I'm passionate about making the arts accessible to everyone and work across community, charity, and participatory settings, creating opportunities for people to build confidence, share their stories, and engage creatively in ways that feel meaningful to them.
Roman Dare
Meet Roman! Co-Director of Subsocial Collective.
Originally from Scotland and now based in Greater Manchester, I am a multimedia artist currently undertaking an MA in Socially Engaged Arts Practice at the University of Salford. My practice is synergetic, collaborative and community based. By weaving the voices of those who share my identity and lived experiences into my projects, my work blurs the boundaries between conversation, live performance, and contemporary artwork.
My research and practice explore themes of connection, relational dynamics, and identity. I investigate these concepts through a versatile, multidisciplinary lens that encompasses printmaking, creative writing, bookbinding, collage, audio, and moving image.
Driven by years of community facilitation, with a specialist focus on working alongside disabled and neurodiverse individuals, I am committed to making creative spaces accessible to all. I view art as a powerful tool for catharsis and self-expression, but equally as a space for play and experimentation. My practice focuses on stripping away the pressure to be perfect, focusing instead on connection, community, and the simple joy of creating together for fun’s sake.
Kandy Holland
Meet Kandy! Co-Director of Subsocial Collective.
I’m a multidisciplinary, socially engaged artist and producer. Originally from Wales, I studied in London before swapping city life for the charm of North Manchester, which I’ve happily called home for the past 11 years.
Working across painting, sculpture, installation, printmaking, and writing, my practice is rooted in storytelling, and a curiosity for all the messy parts of being human. With many years of experience producing participatory community projects and facilitating engaging workshops where I have loved bringing people together through creative experiences that break up the mundane.
Influenced by my background in anthropology and counselling, I am passionate about collaborative working to support disadvantaged groups, from people on the sharp end of poverty to those who have been displaced, struggling with addiction and criminalization. Deeply inspired by culture, connection, and everyday moments of wonder, my personal work uses art, humour, and storytelling as tools for self discovery and making sense of the world around us.
Outside the studio, I am a proud mum to a beautiful little girl, and together we spend our time curating a whimsical, slightly chaotic life.