Gemma Thorpe, photographer & filmmaker

Sheffield makes me, me

I am a documentary filmmaker and photographer. I work on stories that explore identity and a sense of belonging and my current focus is sports documentaries. I spend a lot of time working in China where I have a feature film project on the go.

Sheffield is a place full of family history for me and so I feel quite rooted in the city. But whilst I am based here I often work away as a lot of my projects involve travel and working across cultures. So Sheffield is where I come back to and feel at home straight away - it ends up being the place I come back to gather my ideas and craft them into finished projects.

I love that you can always see the horizon, there’s always a hill to climb and enjoy the view. There are so many beautiful parks that are ideal for being in the fresh air and thinking through ideas. The sense of humour is great here too, and there are lots of hidden gems to discover and distinct areas of the city, like little villages.

You can read more about what inspires Gemma in an interview she did for Our Favourite Places, and see some of her beautiful photography and her links to the Chinese community on her own website. She is also currently working on a film for the city that will highlight the incredible children's health technology in the city through Paul Dimitri's work.