What Happened Here

Using expired photographic film to document a derelict site in Frome, Somerset.

For this project I chose to use expired photographic film to tell the story of one urban brownfield site, known locally as Saxonvale. It could have been anywhere in the country since the story is repeated across many sites like this one.

With housing, homelessness and the environment all being huge issues of our time, this project encapsulates the tensions between landowners’ ambitions to capitalise on their assets, even as people cry out for space to build homes. Playing piggy-in-the-middle, the environment suffers either way as people fly-tip any available space until the developers move in and remove great swathes of nature in order to satisfy housing demand.

There are no easy answers, but more thought needs to be given to how we address these conflicting issues.

The images in this gallery represent just a small proportion of the overall project, which started in 2017 and built up over two years. A selection of the images went on to become an exhibition, sponsored by Mendip District Council, on some of the Saxonvale site hoardings after the site was acquired and secured by MDC in 2018. You can see the story of the exhibition at the end of the gallery.

Some of the photos are available to purchase as fine art prints and canvasses for your home or office wall at takeagander.co.uk. Alternatively, contact me if this project sparks an idea you would like to develop further.

Black and white ground-level view of a tattered, open book, pages fluttering on a breezy sunny day.
A book lies on the ground, its pages fluttering in the breeze.
Black and white view of a man and his dog walking away from the camera. The man is carrying a bin bag.
This man seeks valuable scrap amongst the detritus.
Black and white photo of a family of mum, dad, daughter and son walking through the littered site.
A family takes a stroll through the site.
Black and white view of a young male and female couple sitting on grass watching a large horse grazing nearby with buildings in the background.
A couple sits watching an illegally grazed horse.
Black and white ground-level view of a badly mangled bicycle wheel with no tyre.
A bicycle wheel lies wrecked on the ground.
Black and white ground-level view of an unfurled canister of 35mm film.
By pure coincidence, I stumble upon a discarded roll of photo film.
Black and white photo of bent metal yard gates with rambling weeds climbing across them and the seed heads back-lit by the sun.
Nature clambers over the old infrastructure of the site.
Black and white view of a youth striding off to the right of an open area while to the left in the background a bonfire burns, a thick column of smoke rising into the late afternoon light.
A boy strolls through the site on his way home from school.
Degraded black and white film used to photograph used spray cans lined up on a wall.
Spent spray paint cans. The film used has deteriorated badly.
Degraded black and white photo of a vandalised pushchair seen from ground level.
The wreckage of a push chair.
A nighttime birthday party for one of the homeless residents on the site.
Colour photo of a dog walker chatting to a digger operator in charge of clearing up the site. The dog is wearing a neck cone.
A local resident speaks to a contractor working to clear the site.
Colour photo of a workman carring a broken door during clean-up. Only his legs, arm and hands are visible as the door obscures the view of the man.
A workman during clean-up.
Colour photo of a large mottled brown dog lifting a very large stick in its jaws, the Saxonvale site visible behind.
On the morning the homeless are evicted, Jason's dog plays with a large stick.
Discarded skater helmet.
Colour photo of Alby's caravan, vandalised. There is snow on the ground and a bicycle tyre hangs in a tree above the van.
A homeless man's caravan, abandoned and vandalised in the snow.
Colour photo of two boys playing in snow. One stands, back to camera, while the other swings away on a rope swing suspended from a tree.
Youngsters play on a rope swing in the snow.
Colour photo view looking into the Saxonvale site as smoke and flames pour from Alby's caravan.
A homeless man's caravan is set on fire.
In the foreground a battered sign reads "Private care park. Beware of Pedestrians". Bare wooden upright posts lead away to the background to low, old industrial sheds and a brooding sky.
Site prepared for boarding-out.
The remains of a Henry vacuum cleaner peering out from inside a rusty metal barrel which lies on its side in an area of brambles and weeds, with a green wheelie bin on its side to the right.
A Henry vacuum cleaner is fly-tipped at the site.
Compugraphic of Frome print the images for a public exhibition.
Compugraphic of Frome print the images for a public exhibition.
Compugraphic of Frome print the images for a public exhibition.
Compugraphic of Frome print the images for a public exhibition.
The What Happened Here public exhibition at Merchants Barton car park in Frome.