MEMO
I felt incredibly sad when Northampton County Council’s bankruptcy was announced in early 2018. Born and raised in this East Midlands town, I decided to focus on the bankruptcy for the Final Major Project of my Masters in Documentary Photography.
I spent the Spring and Summer of 2018 in Northampton exploring and researching MEMO, accessing burnt out buildings and experimenting with installation. I grew to know the town better than ever before.
MEMO developed into a documentary fiction seeking to connect two very different points in time: In the early 1980s, a UK government-appointed official responsible for the successful expansion of Northampton under the third phase of the New Towns Act 1946 receives a mysterious memo sent by a stranger from the year 2018...
MEMO aims to be ambiguous and confusing, resonating with how Northampton County Council’s bankruptcy came to be. The project is presented as a photobook incorporating original photography, archive images, writing and a short stills film. Some examples taken from the project can be seen here.