These photographs were taken in November 2019. In and around Dewsbury Town centre.
Capturing a sense of vacancy and impressions of a previous occupation, these images portray a reality which is now void of tenancy. It is a situation which is prevalent across many towns in the UK, with rising commercial rents, business rates and the invasion of the out of town shopping centres.
It is now May 2020 and we are 5 weeks into government imposed 'lockdown', because of Covid-19.
There is a sense of the premonition in these images taken back in November 2019. Who could foretell the severity of the situation that many independent commercial business now endure?
What does this mean for the continuity of the commercial landscape?
I make reference here to philosopher Gaston Bachelard and his book the The Poetics of Space. Bachelard applies the method of phenomenology to architecture, He focuses especially on the personal, emotional response to buildings both in life and in literary works, both in prose and in poetry.
My inspiration for the photography came from a desire to capture the potential for new enterprise and at the same time a sense of dismay at the current architectural state of the commercial environment.
My inspiration for the photography came from a desire to capture the potential for new enterprise and at the same time a sense of dismay at the current architectural state of the commercial environment.
May 2020
