The images in this body of work are drawn from a series begun in 1998 that engages with aspects of contemporary domesticity. The site of these images is a small Devon village north of Dartmoor that is steeped in agricultural and architectural heritage; a classic ancient village. As is the case in many equivalent villages and towns across the UK, its vernacular evolution is being affected by the increasing number of properties appearing within satellite estates. The generic architectural identity, coupled with the emblems of contemporary living (the omnipresent garden shed and the satellite dish), appear at odds to the village’s otherwise local distinctiveness and integrity.

 

As in Steffi Klenz’s series Nonsuch (images at Poundbury in Dorset) the photographic methodology of ‘de-population’, of removing the physical presence of the occupants, heightens the banality and peculiarity of the buildings whilst also referencing the fascination with the relationship between civilisation and nature as explored in the works of painters such as Edward Hopper.