JASON HYNES

THE ROAD

«I began this series whilst working on another of my projects called Last Seen. It usually happens to me that when I’m out doing something else I happen upon another idea. The final image of the steel works was in fact where the idea began. I knew instinctively it would make a great shot and I was going to leave it at that, just another shot to add to my archive which I could use in the future. Then as I drove back home, down the Trunk Road to Middlesbrough early that morning, I realized what an inspiring place this was. The Road runs from Middlesbrough, an industrial town in the North East of the U.K. through to Redcar, a nearby coastal town, I had travelled the road many times but it was now as if I was seeing everything for the first time, the landscape came alive to new possibilities, the imagery was all there just waiting to be shot. Middlesbrough and Redcar has always been known for it’s steel making heritage but over the years due to economic downslides the region has fought with high unemployment but they are strong, proud towns and when Corus, one of the largest steel making plants in the area, was threatened with closure the region rallied and the plant was saved and with it many jobs. The area has always been an inspiration to artists, writers, photographers and I suppose it is all a matter of looking. The series took from January to March to shoot then I will be shooting again come the autumn as I want to include portraits of the people who live and work in the area. This was something I intended to do from the start and I have already a number of portraits shot from that time but not enough to really do justice to the series. I love editing work down into a cohesive series, it excites me and is a favourite part of the process. I wanted the images to tell there story, I was intending at first to shoot each roundabout, each bridge ect but this would be more a record of the place and not a visual story. I want the viewer to think, I see projects as a jigsaw puzzle with pieces missing, I’m not going to give the viewer the whole story they have to fill in the blanks and use there imagination, it’s more powerful that way. I shoot with my gut, so to speak, if something feels right then 90% of the time it is right. This is how I approach most things in life.»

© All copyright remains with photographer Jason Hynes