A love affair with gritty British industrial locations

There’s no hiding it, I’ve got a love affair with gritty British industrial locations. From timber processing, to suede tanning and now slate mining, I gravitate towards crafts and processes that haven’t changed much over the years.

Honister Slate is a collection of portraits and reportage images in partnership with The Honister Slate Mine. Pren and Lauren at Honister kindly granted me access to their slate workshop and working mine. I even had the opportunity to experience a ‘blast’ - harvesting material using explosives. A surreal and unique moment.

Our shoot landed on the hottest week on record. Luckily for us, driving deep into the mine gave us respite from the baking heat, where it remains a consistent 10C all year round.

Having a camera in your hand is like a passport. A passport to a destination where most don’t get to go. Meeting people who most don’t get to know. That’s what attracts me to these places. It’s the unseen and showcasing the people and places with the respect they deserve.

I’ll keep following these curiosities. Perhaps a juxtaposition with ‘modern industry’. What motivates me is my ambition to present things differently with my eye and techniques, my storytelling. Annie Leibovitz explained this beautifully - her inner driving force. “I’m interested in what I see, and I’m interested in the way I see it.”

Please check out the full collection of images here.