Prefab Excursions

I’m currently working on some images for submission to the next Synth Eastwood exhibition over in Dublin, in a couple of weeks time…

The theme for the show is ‘Home Made’. I had various reactions to this theme, but the one that jumped out most was to capture images or video of Prefab houses.

Prefab’s for those who don’t know, were originally built after World War 2 as temporary homes to house those whose homes had been destroyed by bombs. However English Prefab’s are now cherished by many as part of our heritage and as such have gained listed status over recent years. They often have a seaside holiday cabin feel to them and although basic I think they’re wonderful homes that should be celebrated.

There are a row of Prefab houses in Moseley, Birmingham, just a short walk from where I live. These were amongst the first Prefab’s to gain listed status and I thought given the Synth Eastwood brief I’d take a visit to the last row of Prefab’s in Birmingham…

After strolling up and down the row of houses, I was drawn to one Prefab in particular… Almost as soon as I pulled out the camera and snapped off one shot, the door opened up and out popped a friendly old chap called Tom. We had a great chat about the Prefab’s and how when he first moved in over forty years ago, the whole area was full of Prefab housing!

Tom also spoke of how much interest there had been in the Moseley Prefab’s over the years and in particular drew my attention to photographer Richard Okon and the series of images he’d made back in 2005, during encounters with WW2 Prefab’s and occupants around the UK. He showed me the book published by the Photographers Gallery, which I joyfully flicked through until I found the image of proud Prefab owner Tom himself. Lovely!

Here’s Tom below, photographed by me this time, standing proudly in his door way…

Whether or not this image will be submitted into Synth Eastwood is unknown at present.. See what happens.,. At very least I had an interesting and delightful Prefab excursion…

Prefab’s are brilliant!

Saturday 25 Apr 2009

Missions
Photography

5 Comments

SynthEastwood Show Pics
SynthEastwood Cycles