On relocating to Leigh on Sea in November 2015, I anticipated that new visual would be inspired by the local landscape, not just due to the remarkable features of a unique area but because historically, much of my practice has been in response to my environment. It wasn't until preparing to move on again and spend some months right out of the UK that I began to realise the most influential environment that I had spent time in over last year was in the home of my great uncle. As he has lived in this same house for my entire life, I became aware that it was the last house I knew from my childhood, following the sale of both my maternal and paternal grandparents houses, then more recently that in which I grew up myself. My uncle's home is still so much as I have always known it and this has provided a steady source of comfort to me recently as I have navigated a great deal of personal change. Though I have not previously looked to the domestic environment for creative stimulus, I did feel very strongly that I wanted to somehow preserve a little of this, while I could. This collection of photographs is then, a most warm and affectionate record of a very special place and somehow, perhaps gives some insight into the reserved simplicity, yet indomitable character of the man who has made it his home for so many decades. It is published also with much gratitude to him for his permission to do so, as well as his continued, unwavering support.
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Number 49 is a short poem written to accompany the images
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