Each of these instruments has been played, dropped, repaired (or discarded), loved and left in cupboards. The scratches, worn varnish and mended seams are the record of the hands that held them. I photographed each one as a character in its own right, with its own voice and its own history.

Funding in the arts has become harder to find. Instruments like these are often the first thing to go quiet when the arts are under-invested in.

Spend some time with them. Every violin has a story