#pitsea

The 'delights' of Pitsea…

I've been digging right back into the archives to find some gritty urban/suburban images that could be converted into black and white images. I found these three of Pitsea, which is on the eastern fringes of Basildon - a new town that was built between the 1950s and the 1970s. Let's put it this way, some of the design concepts in play at the time have left a pretty grim, depressing legacy…

On the move…

I've broken a bone in my left hand, now heavily bandaged, so I won't be picking up a camera for at least three weeks, possibly not until after Christmas:(

In the meantime, to keep my morale up while I recover, I'll be going back through my archives to pull out old images that I hope will be of interest.

I'm sticking to the theme of 'photography on the go'. That's taking images while I'm out and about on other business. This selection is from when I was living back in Essex and used to travel by train and bus on the way to and from work.

Around the houses...

I'm going back through my archives to pull out old images that I hope will be of interest until my broken left hand heals up and I can lift a camera again…

I'm sticking to the theme of 'photography on the go'. That's taking images while I'm out and about on other business. This selection is from when I was living back in Essex and working as a door to door leaflet distributor between other jobs.

Basildon - a trawl through the archives

I do like a trip back through the archives, preferably when I have a theme in mind. With these four images of various parts of Basildon, the theme is that of a failed new town where the grim reality is a long, long way from the original vision the planners had for the town back in the 1950s/60s.

Having been living in Keynsham for over two and a half years, there's enough distance from when I was living in Essex (with all the memories that holds) to go back through the archives and look at what I shot with a fresh eye. It's an interesting experience doing that...

Image 1 Location: Pitsea, Basildon, Essex | Shot: 11.04.14

Images 2 & 3 Location: Vange Hill Estate, Vange, Basildon, Essex | Shot: 02.11.14

Image 4 Location: Chalvedon, Basildon, Essex | Shot: 23.10.14

I'm not sure how many people know this but, the band Depeche Mode had their origins in Basildon - Heaven

Basildon Bond: Depeche Mode & The Essex New Town

New town 'delights'…

As I was looking through the archives, I came across these three images showing the 'delights' of Pitsea, a settlement that was subsumed by the construction of Basildon new town back in the 1960s and to be honest, has never recovered from that…