TOWN JEWELS

I first came to live in Helensburgh when my adoptive parents brought me here from Sheffield at six weeks of age in 1968.  I’ve lived in the town itself, or in Cardross nearby for nearly 40 years, but as a result of moving away and coming back at least five times, my history here is fragmented. Consequently I have no sense of belonging here, even though Helensburgh is the closest thing I have to a ‘home town’.

When we last returned in 2016, I did what I always seem to do when that sense of disconnect rears up: I picked up my camera and began to document my surroundings.  I recalled a phrase that appeared in a 2008 architectural competition for plans to regenerate the town’s pier. The seafront was described as ‘the jewel in Helensburgh’s crown’, and as I now live on that seafront it seemed a good place to start.

Initially inspired by the Royal Photographic Society’s Bleeding London project, as well as Ed Ruscha’s Every Building On Sunset Strip, I spent two days in March 2017, photographing each of the shops and businesses on Helensburgh’s Clyde Street: from William Street to Sinclair Street. In doing so I realised that I had connections of some sort with many of these places - in their current or former incarnations, and that my images formed a slice of the town’s history. It was a comfort, and Town Jewels was the start of a photographic project which is still ongoing, as I continue to record the changes to this section of Clyde Street for as long as I am here to do so. A small selection of images from the project are included here.