Photobooks, zines, reviewed, etc...

Old England New England My England - Alan Pelz-Sharpe

This project comprises a set of two small books (each about the size of a CD but square, not round).

My Old England contains eight black and white photographs from Middlesex in the UK.

My New England contains nine colour diptychs from Middlesex County, USA.

I think this pair follows on nicely from my previous post about Routes 1. Both this and Routes 1 use a geographical disconnect as the basis for a photographic project to invite comparison between two places.

My Old England presents a set of unmistakeably English scenes. The choice of black and white emphasises the murky, damp, dreary nature of the locations Alan has chosen to photograph. I’m sure someone will find some beauty in here but in all honesty, a coastal refinery brings to mind - in light of recent BP catastrophes - environmental damage and perhaps the notion that we are rapidly destroying the land around us.

Which perhaps explains the jump to My New England - if The Pilgrim Fathers viewed America as the land of opportunity, a utopian escape from their formerly oppressed and restricted lives, so might we see hope and seek comfort in the colourful images presented in the second book. Here is a landscape in which when man does intrude, he does so in the most charming and quaint way imaginable - ironically the very essence of the British gentleman, perhaps?

Drawing a parallel between two places will always invite thought, consideration and discussion. I think this pair of books does a particularly good job of reminding us to think about how we use the land around us.