“Soaring fuel prices? Food shortages? Climate Change? Civil unrest? Welcome to The Post Apocalypse School Of Teesside, officially launched yesterday in the form of this thrillingly bleak companion piece of stunning photography and literature from a host of local authors, including my own tale of a Middlesbrough torn apart by civil war, featuring the legendary ‘Dogs of Spencerbeck’ platoon. And it’s all for a great cause, as we’re donating proceeds to Médecins Sans Frontières.” Will Nett (My Only Boro)
A collaboration between photographer Ian Robinson, Sixth Element Publishing, and the writers of The Post Apocalypse School of Teesside
Born in Thornaby, raised in Middlesbrough, Ian has lived on Teesside all his life. He didn’t have to go far to find the right locations with a post-apocalyptic, Blade Runner feel: “From where I lived, on my walk into town, there was a whole housing estate that had been demolished, at least emptied, so there were a lot of empty and deserted streets. I managed to creep into some of the houses before they were demolished and take photos, but then there’s also a lot of industry around Teesside, the derelict old Town Hall, the old blast furnace at South Gare…with a wide lens and orange filter, it all became different.”
“I mourn the loss of things like the blast furnace. Maybe there should be a memorial or museum or something. There’s an irony about the time and money that’s put into demolishing things but not building things – and how they seem to demolish the wrong things.”
“Art is looking to a brighter future, when you get into a place of darkness. Art is the hope we will survive together when giant corporations and governments ignore us and leave us to our own devices. Art is the bonding of people together.”
