Let’s be fair about this, the weather of late has been grim, just grim. Temperatures and isobars are all over the place.

In desperation to get some medium and large format work done I got out on site late yesterday afternoon about an hour before sunset. I am starting to make new work based on ‘agridustrial’ buildings/sites that reflect something of our industrial heritage in the counties of Suffolk and Norfolk.

I did get some latent medium format images captured but I decided to make some reference shots using the D810. I need some more time to assimilate viewpoints and lighting effects before getting the large format cameras out.

Anyway, no sooner had I begun to disgorge the equipment from the car, and let’s face it, it happens with photographer’s that I know who have an eye on the emerging or disappearing light, that I was engaged in a conversation with someone clocking off. In those short minutes I learned something more about the site in question.

I knew I had missed the A block being dismantled but I found out that gun emplacements had been discovered at the other end of the site- a relic from WW11, and that A block was used as a temporary mortuary for American airmen who had served at nearby Wattisham. All the time Apache’s were scuttling home to base. How differently might I view those gunships if I were not in the free lands of Europe.

Yesterday evening was a window of an opportunity before the next wave of weather systems hurtles through but it was a good one to start getting a feel for the place. I’ll be weather watching intensely over the coming weeks for those transient patches of light of the right wavelength.

This is a very different Edgelands. This is an island created by the intersection of of two linear corridors, the Norwich to London Intercity railway line and the River Gipping (once a navigation) and full of Becheresque subject matter only this is not an industry in decline. The rich fertile East Anglian clays grow much of the nation’s barley and from this comes a huge proportion of malted products that sell worldwide.

I am privileged to have been granted permission to extend my series here.

The cleared area behind this wonderfully distressed, (presumably  emergency) generator housing once held the mortal remains of airmen killed during WW11. In the image above this with the Abellio train hurtling through to Stowmarket, there is an old shipping container emblazoned with ‘United States Lines’. I wonder if that was an accidental purchase and placement or indeed a conscious one? As with most of my work, when I get into a space I begin to see layer upon layer of relationships. This image had to be made for the obvious colour connection and historical connection. How long this generator housing will remain is anyone’s guess.

My old man always said ‘look up’. Not only do I look up but once I have the tripod in place, I walk around 360 degrees to see what else I ought to be looking at. This was was 180 degrees behind me. The primary focus being the view below.

The combination of setting sun and security lighting coming on, plus the constant belching of steam into the atmosphere from various vents brings industrial complexes into life in my opinion. A touch of drama if you will.

Had it not been for the missing pallets in this stack, I doubt I would have noticed this image. Artificial lighting and geometric shapes somehow also come to life after dark.

This is something I need to work on. This could be better (sharper) but if I were to shoot this during the day, it would not have the same appeal. It is this tank farm that I could see from the road that appealed to me as I was scouting around Stowmarket making images earlier last year. Definitely one for a large format attempt. Reciprocity calculations will be interesting! More importantly this tank farm is part of a re-cycling plant that minimizes waste going to landfill and recovers energy.