" What you doing?"
"What you doing that for?"
"Why here?"
I get these questions regularly when I'm out shooting, but never more so than my recent couple of visits to Milton Keynes. Some people are measuring how much of a threat I am to their privacy or whether I'm doing something dodgy, but many are genuinely intrigued. Over time I've refined my answer to I create (unpaid) architectural archive material that can be used to show how places and spaces change over time. Sometimes, I get looks of pity, but most of the time it's bewilderment. I mean, what on earth could be worth preserving here?
Thoughts of heritage are all wrapped up with being worthy; the best examples of your culture. But what is worth preserving is not always apparent until its too late. Instead of being thought of as being worthy, perhaps we should adopt the more human approach to heritage when we try and understand our man made landscapes. A person's heritage, after all is a question of remembering where they've come from regardless of the notion of whether it is 'worthy' or not.
These images are from the inside Milton Keynes's first shopping units. The developer thought they were ripe for demolition and was ready to build new out of town style stores in their place.
Till next time...
Matt Peers