Boy At The Brickworks

Something a little bit different for me.

My youngest son is studying photography at college and for his latest assignment he wanted to capture some scenes of dereliction and maybe try his hand at light painting. He asked for my help and obviously I was more than happy to join him on a mini photography adventure.

I’d known about these derelict brickworks for years but despite them being just a few miles from home, I’d yet to pay them a visit. They looked like the perfect location for the boys project so loaded up a bag with lights and we set off.

We arrived in daylight. Obviously the sensible thing to do. Not only to help scout out the location but also to stay safe. Like all derelicts the place was a minefield of scrap metal, rust nails, glass and general debris. That’s not to mention the overall poor state of the structure. I do like ruins and things like shipwrecks but urbex has never really interested me too much. It turned out to be a fantastic location and I can now fully see the appeal. We wondered round the location looking for compositions, the whole place is covered in graffiti that really adds another dimension.

The plan was to wait until it got dark but as we found a couple of dark spaces within the building we could get started almost straight away. Using lights with coloured gels to paint the walls and a couple of plumbers smoked pellets to add atmosphere we soon had some images we were happy with on the memory cards.

I’m certainly happy with my images and I think the boy went in to college the following day happy with his too.

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