Portfolio Category - Portrait Awards 2014

The location portraits were part of a series of photographs produced for the Altrincham Arts Festival. The town centre in recession was like many, where shops were shuttered and up for sale. The AAF arranged for many closed shops to have pop up galleries and events. The series looked at a past personal connection to Altrincham and a 'memory' journey to find the old ice rink now demolished. I photographed the places on route, requesting directions and sharing memories from the people I met on the journey. The photographs explore the notion of memory, something we hope to be permanent, but in reality it is much more organic. There are areas that remain more stable, while others continue in a state of flux. This had become more relevant to me as my father is suffering dementia. On a recent trip I took him to a factory in the Cheetham Hill area, where he worked for many years. The factory and the Ice Palace buildings were still there, now transformed into various clothing warehouses. Unfortunately with a pained expression on his face, he could not remember anything of the area or the place he had worked for many years.