Projects...
Presently..
 I've started work on Urban Ugliness Volume II.
I'm continuing with promoting my photo essay on urban ugliness. The
official title is Urban Decay,
Lost Spaces and Industrial Ugliness or Urban Ugly for short.. an interesting and ironic name
for the piece.
The BBC happily have taken an interest, and
they have written a feature on me and my essay on their Devon Online
website, here.
See a video
slideshow presentation of the work, also available as a
limited editon, hard-backed art book, on personal request (see the contact tab to get in
touch).
The
photos
explore, as the title suggests, those urban areas (all taken in
Plymouth) that are suffering from neglect, decay or dereliction or
where industrial ugliness holds sway. As the
project has progressed I've come to admire the beauty in that ugliness
and hope to have captured some of that in my work.
A little background..
Plymouth
is a city with centuries of naval
tradition (see the MayflowerSteps site), and so a lot of the images come from around the docksides
and cargo storage / processing areas there, some from the presently
derelict areas of Millbay Docks and some from a disgusting creek
sandwiched between Billacombe Rd and Breakwater Road.
 The
primary cargos brought to Plymouth are
china clay, fuel oil and fertiliser, with ores and aggegates,
too. Plymouth is also a
fishing and leisure sailing port, so the industries around these are
covered as well (boat yards, quays, moorings, abandoned and rotting
hulks
etc.)
Yachting and leisure..
Of course, Plymoth is also one of the
yachting and leisure boating
capitals of the world. Many international races either set sail from or
finish here. The upcoming waterfornt redevelopments planned or in
progress are seeing a shift from commercial to leisure use - watch for
an increase in berths, new marinas and waterfront villages.
 Observations..
One
of the things that I've noticed while working on this photo essay is
that many fine old buildings are featured, now derelict, that
will be razed and rebuilt. At the rate it's happening, it won't be long
before there's none left...
And with today's approach to architecture and building design, I'm sure
we will lose a lot of the character that makes and has made Plymouth
what it is today. So this portfolio will also unintentionally form a
historical record of those last buildings and lost spaces for
future generations.
Planned..
At some time in the not too distant future,
where my serendipitous approach to themes and subjects runs out of
steam, I intend to do some monochrome studio work on flowers
and other inanimates.
...and once that's done, I think I want to
explore the more traditional landscape photography.
 I'm
also keen to do some further work with
models (unpaid, no nudity!) both in the great outdoors and in urban spaces. If
that
interests you then get in touch - but only locals
need apply.
See
some of my work
wth models so far...
In the following, do you see all the areas
without stick-pins? They're all up for future projects :)
My
photos mapped
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