Staircase to Nowhere

In February 2011 I decided to take my first ever solo holiday to a converted barn, next to an Oast House in Kent. This kind of place was not known as ‘an AirBnB’ back then but it pretty much was that, booked via the internet classifieds.

On a cold rainy day I ram-packed my car (and – when I say “packed” – I mean I unbolted the passenger seat and left it at home) with every piece of musical equipment I owned, plus a drum kit and keyboard that I did not own, and spent a week recording music in solitude.

Loddington Oast is on Loddington Farm, and I awkwardly roamed it for an hour to get most of these pictures. For a reason I don’t remember, I had my Dad’s 35mm Pentax camera with me. It probably only just fit in the car!

The staircase to nowhere was my favourite image – where did it once go? – even if I didn’t manage the best framing since it was behind an iron gate and a brick wall which restricted where I could view it from.

Of course, what’s most appealing about the pictures generally is the geometry and the fact they were taken on film; I didn’t know anything about composition, or using the camera properly, so I was lucky to get some shots I liked.

The final three images are from a day excursion to Canterbury. I stumbled upon the interesting bridge by not knowing where I was going. Otherwise, I would have got naff-all on the camera that day.