My project Tilbury to Harwich is very much a personal project to help reconnect with coast line of Essex which has played role in throughout my childhood which included family trips to the beach, my father’s work BBQs at Mersea, trips Southend on a Friday night and photographic subject.
Since those formative years I have travelled to most of the continents of the world, lived in different cities and those experiences and others have changed the way I view the world. Global perspectives have changed significantly over the same time period. When I was growing up as a child we entered the EU, at the turn of the century talk was all about globalisation and now we are seeing a swing back to nationalist / localisation bias. Therefore it feel appropriate and of its time as I re-examine this local boundary.
Though I recognise that this project needs to have an audience if the story I have in my head is going to be told. The first audience I envision is the people who live and work on the coastline and I plan to engage with a number of different local organisations to help contribute to the story and share the images with their audiences. Once the story starts to gain more form and shape I will use social media to engage with a broader audience.
The other activity I consider as important over the coming months is to place my practice and more specifically this project in to context within contemporary British Landscape photography. I will need to consider the similarities between my practice and where it departs from the work of others.
