_1215_fine_art_catalogue

Sarah Jane Owen
sarah-owen@live.co.uk | www.sarahjaneowe8.wix.com/sjphotography
Place and memory. Through film I explore the
effects of deindustrialisation by observing the
post-industrial landscape. In this, North East
mining heritage proposes a poignant historical
reference point as its collapse continues to
affect the lives of those who once depended on
it so heavily.
On arrival at Easington Colliery in County
Durham I was greeted by a derelict school
building, which still in part shows signs of its
former grandeur and central position within a
now dispersed community. To many current
residents it is an eyesore, to others a bitter
reminder of the village’s demise. Seaside Lane,
Easington’s main street, is largely empty and
many of the buildings are shuttered. Further
along a freight train rolls past the old colliery, a
cruel irony. And finally I see the pit cage that
once took miners hundreds of feet below sea
level several times a day, year after year. It now
stands motionless on top of the hill, a bleak
monument left to the hands of the elements.
‘Untitled’, 2015 (video screenshot) ‘Untitled’, 2015 (video screenshot)
‘Untitled’, 2015 (video screenshot)
Sarah Jane Owen
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