These images were made over a period of 30 years in my hometown of Filey, on the Yorkshire Coast, England. Many of the people portrayed are family friends.
Filey, a small Fishing village established by the Romans, has had a fishing heritage until very recently. No -one works regularly now making a living from fishing there, only summer fishing party cruises and the occasional lobster and salmon fishing under licence.The larger trawlers (one pictured from Whitby-and they struggle to recruit locals into the industry so many use Filipino workers) have devastated the fish stocks.The recent dredging of the Tees may have caused the loss of crustaceans as well.The politics of Europe and Brexit haven't helped.One man pictured here works now on the fish counter of the local Morrisons.The last wet fish shop in Filey closed last year .
Revisiting many times, some images portray life and death simultaneously.
These images are also available through the Filey facebook site,
'Photos of Filey Old and new' (link here below) and the comments add to a deeper understanding of the people and place as a modern living archive.
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