Boot prints and yellow cord

Posted on July 22, 2016September 25, 2018 by photograph

Boot prints and yellow cord

I visited The Depot last Tuesday, a day that turned out to be blisteringly hot. I had to wear my full personal protection equipment, of course (high vis jacket, helmet, boots, jeans), which did nothing to help relieve the intense heat. In an effort to get out of the sun, I made my way to the main building to find a glorious shiny black surface extending across the entire floor in front of me. I was confused at first, thinking it was all just very wet, until I realised this was a thick coating of a waterproof barrier called toughseal. It created a beautiful reflective surface to photograph and gave the interior space a radiant quality.

In one corner I was surprised to find these clear white boot prints across the clean black background. I loved the patterns they made with the tangled yellow electric cord layered across the top.

I am documenting the renovation of The Depot, a former industrial building in the centre of Lewes, as it becomes a new community cinema. My client uses these photographs to promote the project and keep local residents informed about the progress that is being made.

If you have a workplace, building project or event that you are thinking of photographing, please get in touch.

Reflected glory

Posted on July 8, 2016September 25, 2018 by photograph

Reflected glory

I have been photographing this long line of colourful dancers at the Depot cinema building site for over a year now. They twirled their way along two walls of a large warehouse room at Harvey’s Depot, a former industrial building I have been documenting as it becomes a new community cinema. Although they are slowly disappearing through the process of the build, these last few revellers persist, now dancing waist-deep in reflected water.

As the renovation progresses, I like seeking out these remnants of earlier uses that linger on, reminding me of how much has changed. The dancers will be gone soon, remaining only in the photographs. They have been good company and have been part of many of my shoots of this building.

If you have a workplace, building project or event that you are thinking of photographing, please get in touch. Subscribe to my blog to receive my photo of the week directly to your inbox.

Beautiful rubbish

Posted on June 30, 2016October 8, 2018 by photograph

Beautiful rubbish

The builders have been litter-picking at Southover Grange, the Tudor manor in Lewes that I am photographing. But this is rubbish with a difference. This detritus from the past is in fact a cigarette packet-sized window into another era. The workers have collected a very small treasure trove of artefacts from the first decades of the 20th century: a toothpaste carton, a razor blade wrapper, shoe polish, match boxes, cigarette packets of varying designs. Not only are these lovely little objects fascinating as relics of bygone product design, they also start my imagination going. Who was smoking these “wild woodbines” 70 years ago? What were their lives? How did they spend their time?

It is this curiosity that drives my passion for photographing renovations. Old buildings always hold windows into the past – hand chisel marks on stonework revealed beneath ancient lathe and plaster, layers of colour and wallpaper uncovered below peeling paint. By documenting the restoration of buildings, I keep these clues available to us once all has been glossed over and the buildings have begun their next incarnation. All photographs of Southover Grange can be found here.

If you have a workplace, building project or event that you are thinking of photographing, please get in touch. I deliver photographs that delve deeper than showing just the surface of things. Subscribe to my blog to receive my photo of the week directly to your inbox.

Orange was the old beige

Posted on June 16, 2016September 25, 2018 by photograph

Orange was the old beige

One of these things is not like the other … I can never resist bright colours in what is usually a bland setting, such as Lewes Railway Station. Unfortunately the column was only temporarily orange, but interestingly, it was the colour that was revealed under layers of paint. I like to think that in another era the columns were all bright orange and not the beige they are now.

More of my townscape photos can be found here, quite a few of which have more orange in them.

If you have a workplace, project or event that you are thinking of photographing, please get in touch. Subscribe to my blog to receive my photo of the week directly to your inbox.

The scaffolding birdcage

Posted on June 10, 2016September 25, 2018 by photograph

The scaffolding birdcage

My photo of the week of a scaffolding birdcage, is an update on the Depot cinema construction site. There is great anticipation in Lewes about this building. For years it was empty and unused once it had become obsolete as a depot for Harvey’s Brewery. Now it is in the throws of transforming into a community cinema. No wonder people are excited about it. I have been hired by the cinema to document the process of the building works. They use my photographs to keep local residents informed and to broadcast the progress being made.

On my latest visit this intricate scaffolding structure, called a birdcage, was being taken down. It was being put up during my last visit a month ago to provide wide areas of continuous access at roof level. I was fascinated with the repeating shapes and angles the birdcage made, which were then reflected in the puddles of water on the floor. At this point in the build everything changes so quickly that it will look very different by the next time I visit with my camera.

If you have a workplace, building project or event that you are thinking of photographing, please get in touch.

Southover Grange, Lewes

Posted on May 19, 2016September 25, 2018 by photograph

Southover Grange, Lewes

I am so excited to be able to write about the start of a new project. I will be documenting the renovations of Southover Grange Manor, a magnificent Elizabethan building in the centre of Lewes and around the corner from where I live. This imposing house, built in 1572 of stones pilfered from the ruins of the nearby Lewes Priory, has been closed for years. Planning permission has now been granted to renovate and restore this historic site so that it can be used by the community to celebrate weddings and events.

I got to wander around its many corridors and rooms on my own before the builders moved in. I love the start of a project as I begin to discover the nooks and crannies of a place that I know I will be drawn back to again and again as it evolves over time.

If you have a workplace, building project or event that you are thinking of photographing, please get in touch. Subscribe to my blog to receive my photo of the week directly to your inbox.

Tag: Lewes