Elation
Elation is my first attempt at a photography project, a study of suburbia in Australia. Its intent is to show how cheap, ugly, and empty the so-called Australian Dream has become.
The images below demonstrate how many Australians and newly-arrived permanent residents on lower incomes are expected to live; bored, isolated, and with any spirit of resistance crushed out of them by false promises of luxury, fake lawns and two-hour commutes.
My initial idea was to provide a taste of this experience by visiting some of the most boring inhabited places on Earth and capturing the streetscapes in black and white. I’m now looking at introducing some variety by documenting the impact of new residential developments on more established neighbourhoods (possibly in colour), and maybe even sneaking my camera into show homes and flat inspections for interior shots.
At rest
At rest is my slow side project. For now, it documents the fading sights of industrial areas before they inevitably disappear.
I grew up surrounded by dilapidation in the North-East of England, and in my experience the best places to find a similar sense of character and atmosphere in Melbourne are in the unglamorous industrial areas dotted around the suburbs.
All of my shots so far come from the suburb of Heidelberg West, an area that fascinates me and reminds me of home in a lot of ways, beyond the industry. I’m looking forward to finding more areas like this to make something worthy of a zine, at least.
Level one
Level one documents my return to north-east England, the region where I was born and raised, in April 2024. This was my first visit to the region in over five years, and most notably my first since the COVID-19 pandemic struck in late 2019.
My old stomping grounds made an immediate new impression on me, as a part of the world even more depressed and lost than I was expecting (and I wasn’t expecting much). My previous visits had been fairly positive, enjoyable experiences, but there was something new, something sour in the air this time around. It was everywhere, and it was impossible to escape.
As difficult as this was to come to terms with for me, being someone who would ideally like to feel a positive connection with my home town and its surrounds, I quickly became intent on capturing it.