Another long weekend goes by, and for me it was quite an intensive one. Friday saw an incredible performance from Lamp and Cove at the Cowley Club in Brighton, and Monday was the now annual Hobfest at Hobgoblin.
Sandwiched inbetween was some overdue time off from my seaside home. Over the last few months things have become a bit strange in the Brighton photo scene. In some places incredible surreal, I have 2nd AD’d on an incredible shoot for Garage Studios, which all the hard work from can be seen here, I have been in discussions with several people about new projects and shoots, and had to sadly lose some associates along the way.
With the long weekend upon us and an 80th birthday to attend, it was time to have a break and check out some new scenery.
The pictures you are seeing now are from where I grew up, a rather subdued little town called Tonbridge, NOT Royal Tunbridge Wells, that is 8 miles south, and never to be mistaken.
Like all teenagers growing up in Tonbridge was horrendous. It is a delapidated river town, it has a castle – albeit one in very small bits, it has a very large park and access to some of the countries best schools as well as being only 50 minutes from Charing Cross.
It is splattered with rundown and abandonded shopfronts and warehouses, industrial estates and in some areas, some really busted up council estates.
You could call Tonbridge a photographers playground. I left some 8 years ago and have never looked back, barely staying in its clutches for more than a day, and then rarely venturing outside the comfort of my parental abode or a close friend, in fear of depression setting in.
Of course with it being Easter Sunday, everything was closed. This is not all that different to Tonbridge on any given day of the week but on this day it meant even freer access to areas that otherwise may have been obstructed by the public or workers.
Several people stopped me whilst I was snapping away around the backs of the many sub-par Italian restaurants and fast food chains, but not to question or quibble as to whether I should or should not have scaled a fence or gateway, but to comment on how annoyed they were that they hadn’t brought their camera’s out to take this rare opportunity.
More photos from my expedition to Tonbridge, Cove & Lamp @Cowley Club and 2009′s Hobfest can be seen on the Flickr Stream.
