Somewhere In Between

I live at the top of a hill, on the very edge of town, a few miles from the beach. I work at the bottom of a hill, on the very edge of town, a few metres from the sea.

In between is the city where I grew up. It’s where I went to school, where my family live and where my children were born. I know it better than any other city on earth and yet I rarely make any photographs there at all, which seems a little odd.

There are reasons of course. I’ve always been more drawn to the hills than the city. I’m lucky to live a few minutes from the edge of a national park. It’s the first thing I see when I look out of the window each morning and it’s a very moreish kind of place. Similarly, whenever I’ve been in town with a camera the lure of the beach has always been stronger than the temptation of the streets. Brighton is a fabulous city for people watching, but I’ve never been one for city centre crowds when there is an ocean to stare at.

Brighton is a famous city, but most of it seems fairly unknown. The places past the piers, beyond the beach and away from the crowds. The everyday parts that I pass through every day. The shortcuts and the suburbs, the backstreets and the bins. Not so much off the beaten track but just behind it. As I travel around the city I see so many little moments that would make a photograph. Little fragments that illustrate what Brighton really feels like to live in day to day. Full of energy, hope and colour, but always a little grubby and faded round the edges. Completely convinced of its own unique charm, but in many ways just as mundane and commonplace as any other English town.

Over the last few years I’ve begun to actually take some of these pictures, to stop and pay attention to it all a little more closely. To really look at what I’ve been overlooking and embrace the in-between as the glue that holds the rest of it together.

I haven't really been sure what to do with them all until now. It’s been a useful exercise in noticing as much as anything. Scratching a creative itch without any real intention to publish or share. There have been lots of unfinished thoughts about themes or projects, with all the limitations that imposes, but really this is just a diary. My views, literally and figuratively, on what it’s like to live here. It is of course a work in progress, but that’s kind of the point. Below is a small selection from this summer, all to be found somewhere in-between.

For a completely different view of Brighton life take a look at the work of fellow Brightonian Chris Harrison. One of my favourite photographers with a unique way of looking at the world. If you can find a copy of his book ‘Sideshow’ then grab it at once!

www.chrisharrison.co.uk