The name “Aldeburgh” derives from the Old English ald (old) and burgh (fortification), although this structure, along with much of the Tudor town, has now been lost to the sea. In the 16th century, Aldeburgh was a leading port and had a flourishing shipbuilding industry. Aldeburgh’s importance as a port declined as the River Alde silted up and larger ships could no longer berth. It survived mainly on fishing until the 19th century, when it also became a seaside resort. It has a thriving artistic as well as festival tradition on which some of my work draws.

Aldeburgh is currently 'on the edge' in a number of ways: - geographically it is extremely vulnerable to encroachment of the sea. Half the land originally occupied by Aldeburgh in the middle ages has now disappeared through both gradual erosion and storm disasters. The sea is currently held at bay with barriers and groynes, but the area is threatened in the longer term by global warming. - to the North the skyline is dominated by Sizewell nuclear power station - with periodic leaks though none so far serious. The current strategic government focus on nuclear energy and likely development of the new nuclear power station at Sizewell C will lead to profound ecological and economic changes.

My work in Aldeburgh started in 2009 with photography on day trips, but the town became a favourite place for longer stays at the local campsite and I started to collect series of photographs, sketches and written notes. These are now being added to and developed as books.

Edges Found is a series of books, photographs, prints and drawings  inspired by found textures, texts and events in  Aldeburgh, an often very busy tourist town on the Suffolk Coast.  

My more documentary-focused work includes:

Before Carnival was Cancelled: Aldeburgh 2009 - 2019 consists of creative photography from old iPhone walks, photo reportage series from Aldeburgh festivals and 2016 Carnival  - processed and framed to present a sometimes humorous and nostalgic look back at a time of freedom before 'carnival was cancelled'.

Reflections in Grey : Aldeburgh Lockdown Diaries 2020  includes a photobook of reflections and readings from 'a journey around my room' in a holiday cottage in Aldeburgh during the second Covid-19 Lockdown in December 2020. In a claustrophobic small square format it juxtaposes images of the rooms with 'slices of textured light', texts I was reading and newspaper clippings as an internal narrative about coping with Lockdown and also increasing external urgency of pollution and climate change. I also include a movie and glitch frames that convey the sense of claustrophobia and dependence on the TV for colour and information.

Aldeburgh Edgescapes brings together documentary photographs and photoscreen prints of Aldeburgh seascapes, people and urban landscapes showing the continually changing economic, social and environmental context.

Wish You Were Here: Aldeburgh postcards  include monochrome photographs of found signage and local issues in Aldeburgh, digital art series of typical 'holiday' scenes in the town and cartoon sketches.

My  illustrated fictions are based on photographs of objects and textures around the town.

'A Mermaid's Tale' is an imaginary narrative about gender violence and mythologies based very loosely on re-reading of local folk tales about mermaids, wild men and sea monsters. Inspired by iPad photographs of found images in wooden boards by the fishing boats along the beach.

Forthcoming 2024:

'Rust Poems: Erasures for the 21st Century' are a series of erasure poems suggested by found images in a rusty tractor on Aldeburgh beach.

'Moot Histories: Aldeburgh written in stone' is a series of semi-factual historical vignettes, based loosely on historical 'facts', based on imaginary scenes from iPad photographs of found images in the flint stonework of the Moot Hall, now a museum.' 

Tangle Tales: photography and illustrations about fishing and the marine environment inspired by Ali Tabrizi's Netflix video Seaspiracy together with short fiction and redacted poetry about Aldeburgh.