Welcome to St. Decay
“I really love your book. It’s novel, beautiful, intelligent and ascerbic in places – just like Cornwall. I think you’ve created something that says something new about Cornwall and I love it!”
“The whole concept of this and these mesmerising images of alien-like landscapes of Cornwall taken on an infrared camera are so incredibly haunting, evocative and simply staggeringly beautiful.”
From the mine-scarred landscapes around Redruth to the Biomes of the Eden Project and the ‘Cornish Alps’ around St. Austell, Cornwall has a surreal and otherworldly feel. But it’s never been seen in glorious infrared.
Welcome to St. Decay celebrates Cornwall’s mining heritage through a lurid colour palette. Taken over a six-month period walking and cycling around the Cornish countryside from St. Agnes to St. Austell, the book explores nature’s gradual but inevitable reclamation of the man made, focusing on abandoned engine houses where ivy climbs the chimneys and walls. For me, these engine houses are as grand, important and beautiful as any cathedral or castle and deserve to be celebrated.
• Photos from the book were shown in the group exhibition Unfamiliar Territory at Falmouth Art Gallery, from 11 February to 1 June 2023, and the photos kept for the gallery’s permanent collection.
• Infrabandoned, an exhibition of photos from the book appeared in the Red River cafe in Heartlands, Pool, throughout 2022.
• Featured in July 2020’s Cornwall Today magazine.
• The book was bought by Kresen Kernow, the centre for Cornwall’s history, for their permanent library.
Reviews
“Quite wonderful”
— Naomi
“Amazing and challenging images”
— Bob
“A labour of love”
— Helen
“Stunning”
— Tim
“Beautiful… a treat to the eyes”
— Denis
“Brilliant”
— Daniel
Infrared Blog Posts
