Edges Found is a series of book and single image narratives based inspired by detail photographs of found textures around Aldeburgh in Suffolk.

The name “Aldeburgh” derives from the Old English ald (old) and burh (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. As a tourist town it has a thriving artistic as well as festival tradition on which some of my work draws.

Aldeburgh is ‘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.

‘Edges Found’ is a series of imaginative ‘tales’ developed from Found images from sources like the flint stonework of the Moot Hall, rusty tractors, wooden boards propped outside fish houses and nets lying on the beach inspire a range of imaginary  and ‘truth’ narratives. ‘Moot Tales’ develops texture snapshots in Procreate on my iPad as historical imaginings, Suffolk Folk Tales about mermaids and sea monsters, well-known poems and uncertain futures.  The aim is to retain enough fidelity to the original textures to be intriguing, but manipulated enough to create a meaningful narrative that provokes questions about life in Aldeburgh, and more generally.

The main focus of this SYP project is a series of illustrated books and single image that develop narratives from iPad photographs of found textures in Procreate.

Rust Poems : images of rust on an old tractor on Aldeburgh beach reworked to illustrate three erasure found poems :

  • Poem 1: Ozymandias  by Percy Bysshe Shelley 1818
  • Poem 2: Kubla Khan excepts from Samuel Taylor Coleridge, 1797
  • Poem 3: Crow’s Theology, excerpts from ‘Crow by Ted Hughes 1966-69

A Mermaid’s Tale: an imagined version of local mermaid and wild man tales based on found images in old wooden boards propped up around the fish houses.

Moot Histories is based on photographs of flint stonework on the Moot Hall. The narrative started started by selecting and photographing portions of stone that had interesting shapes and textures with lines and translucency that suggested stories relevant to Aldeburgh – the sea, boats, storms, people and faces. These were then further worked to create imagined versions of the past based on information about Aldeburgh in the past from books and on-line websites.

Edgescapes : Photography and Photo screen images of seascapes, people, shingle flotsam and urban scenes. sections of old boats lying on Aldeburgh beach. 

‘Aldeburgh Edgescapes’ is in the process of further development for ‘Shingle’ a joint exhibition of photography and artwork with painter Howard Andrews in Aldeburgh Ballroom Arts Gallery, May 2023. The books and images presented here are still ongoing projects for which the final text still needs to be finalised building on input from people in Aldeburgh and elsewhere 2023-2024.

Portfolio Links On SMUGMUG

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

Click to open SMUGMUG Photobook and Image Gallery on
https://www.zemniimages.com/Tales-from-the-Edge/Aldeburgh-Suffolk-Coast/Rust-Poems
A Mermaid’s Tale
‘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.

Click to open SMUGMUG Photobook and Image Gallery on
https://www.zemniimages.com/Tales-from-the-Edge/Aldeburgh-Suffolk-Coast/A-Mermaids-Tale
Moot Histories
‘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.’

Click to open SMUGMUG Photobook and Image Gallery on
https://www.zemniimages.com/Tales-from-the-Edge/Aldeburgh-Suffolk-Coast/Moot-Histories
Aldeburgh Edgescapes
‘Aldeburgh Edgescapes’: Photography and photo screen prints of Aldeburgh seascapes, people and urban landscapes showing the continually changing economic, social and environmental context.

Click to open SMUGMUG Photobook and Image Gallery on
https://www.zemniimages.com/Tales-from-the-Edge/Aldeburgh-Suffolk-Coast/Moot-Histories

Made with Padlet

Inspiration and Background work:
Previous projects Reportage Sketchbooks

The main source of inspiration were the textures themselves, some of which were presented as selected single illustrations for assessment in Illustration 2. But these have been significantly reworked to create the narratives compiled as books in InDesign for SYP, with many new images added, coupled with background reading and research.

Themes and content also draw on ‘Carnival days’ and ‘Reflections in Grey’ from my VCAP portfolio. The narratives also draw on life sketching and documentary photography and video in Aldeburgh since 2016 that informed the sorts of issues relevant to the place, and also the types of topics likely to be interesting to the local tourist market. This was important for me to make decisions on how the images could be developed while still fulfilling the requirements of my Manifesto and wider work.

But much of the treatment draws on new sketchbook and creative writing work from 2021-2022. Aldeburgh is a very good place for sketching people. A key regular element in my practice going forward will be sketching of people in locations along the derives together with notes on conversations as the basis for developing narratives. Some very preliminary rapid sketches together with supporting photos and video clips are being developed into more considered drawings in different media for an illustrated book of poetry and short stories called ‘Entanglements’ dealing more directly with issues around fishing, sustainable tourism and environmental conservation.

https://illustration.zemniimages.info/portfolio/5-1-1-shutterscapes-ii-carnival-days
https://illustration.zemniimages.info/portfolio/5-2-2-reflections-in-grey-aldeburgh-suffolk