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I Belong Jarrow
I was born and brought up in Jarrow, a tough industrial town on the south bank of the river Tyne. It’s where I call home.
I
have lived abroad for more years than I care to admit. My Mother and
Father are getting old and moving out of Jarrow, cutting me adrift with
no way back. Finally, I have been forced to think about who I am and
where I belong.
I never wanted to leave Jarrow. I always imagined
that one day I would make it my home. I realise now that I can never
return. Somehow I traded knowledge of the outside world for some vital
piece of me. With this realisation, I have returned
home in order to
try to establish how much of where I am from determines who I am, and to
begin to understand why I can´t seem to let go.
What makes
Jarrow so special? It may have a rich history stretching back to
pre-Roman times but this isn’t what makes it special to me. Rather, its
relevance seems too be something essentially intangible. Is Jarrow a
place that exists more in my imagination than in reality? Perhaps its
essence is based on a collection of handed down stories rather than
facts? Sadly, the places connected to these stories are disappearing
fast and I feel the need to preserve them somehow, if only so that I can
share them with my children.
Hopefully, by photographing the
places I know intimately I can show something we all instinctively
recognize; that, as L.P. Hartley said so eloquently “The past is a
foreign country: they do things differently there”.
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