my name is mwd: photos

Ferrybridge Power Station forms part of my own gestalt. When I was young my parents moved from the east coast of England up to Scotland, but we made frequent trips back, and these large chimney towers represented the moment we’d turn left on the final stretch to see our relatives.

Given they form such a part of my childhood memories I thought I’d try take their picture, inspired by this video by George Muncey. Unlike Mr Muncey I did this on the spur of the moment whilst I was stopped at Ferrybridge services, heading in my own version of that journey of my youth heading from Cambridge to Scotland to visit my parents, just as my parents had visited theirs. Given the lack of planning, I didn’t really find a good place to take the photo in my limited time. Whilst I hail from this kind of area, I felt very self conscious turning up in a strangers small town and trying to photograph it as an outsider used to living more of a city life than working town life.

The net result is that this isn’t the best composition, but I do like that I captured a little bit of town life along with the power station itself - the kid on the scrambler blasting up road before me. That makes this an interesting photo, to me at least, even if the scene is otherwise chaotic and lacking meaning outside the context of this blurb.

It’s also hampered by the low, grainy quality of the film I’m using that made me wish I shot medium format for things like this.