This Is England

I recently decided to undertake a personal and vast project to photograph the people and places of the country I love and sometimes hate, dear old England. The project will be on going and I want most of the images to be taken in the form of a snapshot, my long term plan is to publish the images in a book to coincide with an exhibition.

The reason for why I wanted to start this project is simple; we live in a country that is constantly evolving and what we are use to seeing today may be gone tomorrow. The American photographer O Winston Link spent five years photographing the declining Norfolk and Western steam powered American railroad. For over twenty years no one seemed interested in his stunning photos many of which were taken at night. But today his original prints are worth a considerable amount and he now has a museum owned by the Historical Society of Western Virginia, dedicated to preserving his work.
The moral of this tale, what is of little or no interest to us today, may be of great importance and interest to us tomorrow.

My inspiration for this project came from the well known English photographer Martin Parr and from the film “This Is England” directed by Shane Meadows.
A brilliant and powerful film set in 1983 and seen through the eyes of a 12 year old boy and his induction into a gang of skinheads.
The acting is amazing and the boy Shaun played by Thomas Turgoose is mesmerizing.


Winner of the best film, British Independent Film Awards.

Please view the Gallery page for "This Is England" images.

You can go to the film's website "This Is England" via the Links page.