LEAD/LIGHT / (2013)

_HD Video
_Duration: 18:14 min
_Camera, Editing: Greg Taylor

Commissioned by ACAVA (Association for Cultural Advancement through Visual Art) / Funded by Arts Council England, Essex County Council

Hadleigh In Place was a year-long multidisciplinary arts programme that aimed to reveal and reimagine the unusual, personal and special characteristics of Hadleigh and its environs. The project sought to capture and express the unique nature of place through a programme of artists residencies and commissions; of which I was invited to be 1 of 5.

Blending elements of auto-fiction and psychogeography, the film Lead/Light (2013) explores the physical and psychological topography of the Thames Estuary and South Essex coastline — focusing on aspirational inner-city migration and its impact on the Hadleigh and Leigh-on-Sea regions.

The film foregrounds two groups of East London migrants: William Booth and his Salvation Army — who advocated reform through relocation, work, and the Christian Church, establishing the Hadleigh Farm Colony on the town’s outskirts — and the Walkers, a working-class family from Canning Town whose personal migration contributed to the area's rapid suburban development.

The intersection of these stories is still reflected today in a legal covenant found in all freehold properties at Leigh Park Farm (now known as 'The Highlands Estate'), which strictly prohibits the production of alcohol from any of the remaining fruit trees found on its streets, boulevards, and gardens.

Alongside the film outcome I was invited to curate an associated public film and talk programme that further explored and unpacked the themes central to my project. Held over successive weeks the Citadel Screenings were hosted in the appliance hall at Hadleigh Old Fire Station Studios.

Lead/Light was commissioned by ACAVA (The Association for Cultural Advancement through Visual Art) and funded by Arts Council England and Essex County Council.