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I have been photographing the coast around Hartlepool for as long as I have lived here, both using a traditional landscape photographer’s approach with a camera on a tripod during the ‘golden hour’, and more loosely, with a small hand held camera at no particular time of day.

Looking back at all the images I have taken of my adopted town, I have realised there are massive gaps in my knowledge of the town’s geography. It then occurred to me that I could start to redress that by exploring the outskirts of the town; the margins where human occupation meets the countryside, or the sea. I began to wonder how exploring and making images of the edge of town might say something not just about Hartlepool, but also about the times we are living in.

I began this project in February 2018, using 35mm SLR and compact cameras. I have experimented with different film stock and developer. After trial an error I am happy with a combination of Rollei RPX 100, Rollei RPX 400, Ilford FP4 and Ilford HP5, all developed in Kodak Xtol. I should perhaps reduce my film choice to either Rollei or Ilford.

Technical considerations aside, I have much physical ground to cover, and as the days grow longer I am relishing the prospect of early morning and late evening walks. I am considering setting up a Google Map page, adding markers for the images already made as a visual aide-memoire and as something visitors to my site might like to use.

Please check out the first of my images in the Edge of Town photograph gallery page.

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