HARBOUR SHELTERS

During the covid lockdown I started a routine of daily walks from my house, exploring areas that were unfamiliar to me, even though they were sometimes only a few hundred yards away. I was amazed at how little I knew of my immediate locality, despite having lived here for years.

After covid I decided to continue this exploration but changed the location to Poole harbour, an area nearby that I had always wanted to explore. This daily exploration revealed a world I knew little about.

Day after day I would discover new evidence of people sleeping rough, some in tents but others in more complex structures often hidden away in thick undergrowth.

I started photographing these shelters and watched as nature slowly reclaimed them back into the landscape. These traces of human existence illustrate the resilience of the human spirit even in the most desperate of times.

The fragile shelters, situated as they were in an area of such wealth and dense population, are a stark reminder of the disconnect that exists in society today.

These photographs record the passing histories of those on the edge of society and their struggle to survive.