
Jon Windsor is next on the blog with a personal take on the Ebbw Valley of South Wales, and the way that geological, industrial and personal history are woven into the fabric of an area that has been devestated on environmental, community and economic levels over the years. It's a touching story where this devastation is marked onto the skin of the valley, and is remembered with a mix of nostalgia, anger and despair, but with a little bit of contemporary joyfulness thrown into the mix. I love the fact that the places where the contour lines get close, there are perpendicular lines made by walkers, bmx-ers and bikers, a different kind of mapping.
Below is what Jon has to say about the project.
After that he worked
in construction, he drove a taxi, and now he works in retail. In a way, his
life mirrors the changes that have happened in the valley. From being a site
associated with coal and industry, it is now a site associated with deprivation,
EU-funded infrastructure projects, and the zero hours economy.


Although my family is
steeped in the history of the Valleys, I didn’t know much about it. My life was
based more in Risca, Newport and Cardiff. This project is my attempt to
reconnect with the nostalgia and longing for the past, as expressed by my
family history, and the way the area has become a reflection of the new
valleys; a shadow economy that is a mix of new industries, commuter housing and
economic initiatives that never quite happened.
For this project, I
followed the the old Ebbw Valley Railway line from its start in Ebbw vale
to its end in Newport docks. The line was at one point used to carry freight
from Ebbw Vale steelworks to Newport docks between 1962 and 2002, stopping at
each town throughout the valley along the way. Using this track as a guide, EBBW uses present day photographs from
each of these towns, coupled with Ordinance Survey maps from the time such
industries were operating as a means of examining in detail how the landscape
has changed over the last 50 years.
Contact: jwindsor94@googlemail.com
You can see this and other documentary work in London opening 16th June at Seen Fifteen Gallery, Peckham. We'd love to see you there so come and say hello!
And if you do have any spare cash and want to be a patron of some truly great photographers, go to the Kickstarter Page here. We need a little money!
No comments:
Post a Comment