CETell us about your project ‘Thames Town’; where did you come across this development and what sparked your interest in it?

DW In about 2006 I was reading a Sunday supplement (either the Telegraph or Guardian, I forget which) and came across the story of a new development outside of Shanghai that included the construction of an English style Town. Two years later I was in China and used that as the perfect excuse to track this town down.

I had been interested for some time in housing development and how we create the space we live in and had been looking for an interesting way to shoot something around it. Prior to this my work had all been in a much more traditional photojournalism mould and I was looking for a project to move my work away from this and more toward the boundary between documentary and art practice.

Photojournalism is (quite rightly in my opinion) moving to more of a multimedia medium and I found increasingly that my interest lay in knitting together a smaller number of strong images within a singular concept. Thames Town was one of several projects I undertook in China as a re-examination of why photography is important to me. Having large-scale images of deserted streets English streets that on closer inspection allow the viewer to come to the realisation that this is in fact China, not England, has allowed me to challenge our cultural stereotypes of what modern day China looks like.

CEHow did you find the experience of being in this environment, from the perspective of an English native?

DW It was definitely strange. I had been living in the city of Dalian in the North East for about 6 months before going to Shanghai and so was already feeling fairly isolated. When I arrived in Thames Town for the first time it became apparent that the space was lacking the usual dynamic of a town bustling with life and appeared to be mainly the refuge of local wedding photographers. Whilst it was at times easy to partially fool myself that I was in an English model village such as Street in Somerset, the fact that I was there in July meant that the humidity and heat were off the charts for an English Summer and the storms were unlike anything we would experience.

CEWas it always important to you to photograph this town devoid of its inhabitants?

DWWell it began out of necessity but the more time I spent there the more I became interested in our notions of a space as home and what we associate with as part of our national identity. Introducing portraits into the work would have made them the subjects of the piece and I was more interested in exploring a notion of Englishness and stereotypes of the viewer of the images both in what England and China should look like.

CEIs this part of a larger project? Is this area a continued interest for you?

DWI’m currently finishing up a body of work on a forest after which I’m returning to the housing theme, although I don’t know how it will fit with the Thames Town work. I looked and looked at the other western style towns and even visited some in other cities but for me the real interest came in portraying the English style ones. I’m not really sure I could do justice to say a Russian or German one, because I’d miss the little things that so importantly say this isn’t Russia/Germany.

I’m exploring the history of model villages in the UK but I’m not sure this would fit with the Thames Town images, so I think for it to succeed as a larger body of work I’ll have to find other English style model villages in different countries, but so far I’ve struggled to come across them.

CETell us about the photograph Thames Town I that we have chosen for an edition; is there a story behind this image?

DWThis particular image for me is one of the two that really sum up the series, looking both so very English and just not quite right at the same time. The mock Tudor housing lining the street that could be in any market town in England, leading up to the garish pink facade at the end, with only small elements of text and the obligatory air conditioners as a giveaway as to the true location. The uneven street leading up to this garish building front just adds to this sense of disorientation.