CEThe portraits in Allaleigh are all quite melancholic, the people photographed are generally caught looking reflective and perhaps a little guarded and those in group portraits are not interacting with each other. Combined with the non-distinct landscapes the project evokes a feeling of an isolated community perhaps a little smaller than it once was and even quietly on it’s way out. Is this the way you see it?

TCI suppose I am documenting the changes and downfall of small farms and of the loss of sense of community. It is sad when you think what globalization and intensive farming has done to these small farming areas but at the same time change is a constant within civilisation and farming. There are good things going on in these areas, a lot of people in recent years have started to return to growing their own food and becoming more self-sufficient.

Something that I found particularly interesting about these changes were the contrasting elements as the middle classes moved into the old farm houses and converted the barns creating their own form of utopia alongside the original residents more used to the land being used as a way of life.

CEThe project really catches me because I have a lot of these feelings towards the town in Devon where I grew up but I think much of this is to do with my own sorrow at the passing of the vibrancy with which I saw the place as a child and teenager, and the loss of the bond I had with it. In this way I wonder how much this project is a reflection of your own relationship with the place rather than a straight documentation?

TCI have lived in Devon for most of my life so I do have a lot of connections to it. I have very fond memories of Allaleigh, the hamlet where I photographed from being a teenager and spending time there with friends. I have also worked there on and off over the years and grown quite close to the residents so it is definitely to me more personal than a straight documentation. I think that this is why the landscapes are less descriptive and the narrative not obvious because it is more about my experiences of the place.

CEA lot of your work contains elements of this awkward quietness or sadness, do you consciously choose projects which reflect this?

It is not something I intend to bring across in my photographs. When I am photographing, especially with portraits, I like to spend a long time over it and in most cases return to photograph the subject again. So because of this they do have a very still contemplative feel to them, which does come across as melancholy. As a photographer something of your self does come across in the images so I suppose it is the way I see things. I was also very aware when making this work of the clichéd photography you see that idealises rural life and landscapes and this was something I was not interested in doing.


CEWhat are you working on now?

I am still continuing with this project and have a couple of new ones in the pipeline so watch this space.