Coming up...

For some time I have been considering doing some personal work - a photo essay based on an area where I spent quite a portion of my formative years. With the alarmingly rapid growth of my son I think a lot about my early years and how and where I grew up. Things are very different for people of his generation. I think there will be a great deal more expectation on him not to mention demands on him and his time.

I never really considered it a great deal but I didn't grow up in the most salubrious part of the world. In an area once considered the worst estate in England in fact. I don't have particularly good or bad memories of the place - rather indifference. Visiting the area again left me feeling very detached. It was almost like I could recall it being a part of my history but not actually recall living through it. Like the episode of a show I once saw. The area is now largely derelict and is in the process of being demolished and slowly replaced. I wanted to capture it warts and all before it vanishes forever.

My life and that of my children's is very different from that of my parents at that stage. I have little doubt that if like me my son is blessed with children of his own that their life will be further removed again.

At times today I felt blessed and sad and often intimidated. I even felt threatened at one point when I placed myself in danger. This is my first attempt at any kind of reportage style photography and I got quite a kick out of it. It felt refreshing and furtive and dangerous and in it's own way was a recording of some personal history. I got a tiny glimpse of what serious reportage style photographers do and it whet my appetite somewhat.

I am planning a number of photo-essays over the coming months - some personal, some more generic. I have enjoyed this as a start of this process. I am documenting them on my facebook page (just light reflected - photo album - Coming up...) and some of them will no doubt appear on my website (www.justlightreflected.com). Please have a look and feel free to comment - your thoughts and criticism would be welcome.