Since the 1st January 2021, I began documenting the experiences of rurality during the third lockdown, the lives lived and the world that has changed around them. While some have experienced little change in their day to day, others have found the pandemic a truly isolating experience. The book documents the changing nature of the rural idyll. It has been a very personal story, evoking juxtaposing feelings of melancholy and stoicism. The title of the book 'Off We Go Into The Bright Blue Yonder'‘ derives from a song I sang with an elderly gentleman George Warren as I walked him home from his friend Gerry's at 9:30pm in the evenings. For me this ritual optimised these feelings as we shuffled along the road in the middle of Winter up to his porch as he slowly let himself in to his house.
The book further explores the social consequences of lockdown that have effected the 'rural idyll'. From the; purchasing of second homes, the influx of digital nomads and the exacerbated use of remote services and consumption which are increasingly hollowing the social fabric of these communities. The process over the last eight months has seen me photograph and conduct interviews over the phone with a broad range of residents living in Tillington, home to 404 people in the South-East of England. Whilst it feels odd reflecting on such a harsh period of time as life begins to open again, it is important to rationalise the lives and realities that we are experiencing from the local to the national patterns in society.
Harry Compton is an Anthropology and Law graduate from the London School of Economics (LSE) who is about to embark on an MA in Photojournalism and Documentary Photography at LCC. His Interests lie in observing and trying to understand localities, the people in them and where they align their values and beliefs. His area of current focus is specific to accounts of Rural England, which he has been documenting for the last eight months.