Photographs of Kent captured by history lover
06:00, 29 March 2020
A passion to capture real life is behind Daniel Loveday’s photographs.
Mr Loveday, from Strood, decided to take photos of the Medway area after he graduated from Canterbury Christ Church University, where he had studied photography.
The 26-year-old takes images of day-to-day life, rather than focussing on the more picturesque landmarks in Kent.
It is something that, understandably, is on hold but only for now.
He explained: “I got into photography a few years ago, really.
“When I was 15, I went to the beach with my family and everyone was sunbathing, so I went off with my camera.
“I left it for a couple of years after that and only really got back into it when I needed another subject to study in sixth form. I loved it so much that I ended up going to university to study it.
“I studied at Canterbury Christ Church. At the time, I was just focussing on the Canterbury and Thanet area.
“But at the end of that, I decided it would be good to document where I'm from.
“I know there are a lot of people taking photos in Medway but it’s always of the prettier side of it. I wanted to tell more real stories.
“In the last five years, Medway has gone through a lot of changes. A lot of things I have covered no longer exist, such as the Kingsnorth Power Station.
“There is one group I follow on Facebook, which is called Medway Through Time. It has photos through the 70s and 80s up to now.
“So I thought, although at the minute people might look at one of my photos and think ‘it’s just a shop down the road’, in 25 years, the shop might no longer be there and there will be so many nostalgic memories of it.”
Now, Mr Loveday, who works as an image technician for the British Library, also highlights the lives of Medway people through a category on his website described as Untold Lives.
He said: “I have met with one guy who lived in Strood and he has schizophrenia but he's a real character.
“There is another lady called Barbara who is 96. Once you get to that age you are kind of confined to your own home, so I have met her through doing this as well, which has been great.”
Mr Loveday says one of his favourite photographs shows a lady crossing a road and she can be seen holding a buggy, by a nearby corner shop.
He is working on releasing a book alongside Tyro Collectives later this year.
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