‘Who loved this place’ is a collection of pictures from my home town, Worthing (South Coast of England) taken over a ten year period. The pictures are candid and un-posed and reflect the style of photography I have been pursuing for around 15 years. I truly believe that it is not necessarily imperative to travel too far to discover potential situations and characters and I think that the convenience and familiarity of shooting locally can allow a deeper concentration on a place and help in seeking some of its essence.

Worthing has taken some stick over the years- mainly over the lack of excitement one might experience in a town historically linked with a reputation for retirement and sedentary pursuits. Often referred to as ‘God’s waiting room’ and even a national newspaper reported that ‘Andy Murray was duller than a weekend in Worthing’ after he won sports personality of the year!. It is locally renowned for a reasonable level of eccentricity and I hope the intended dual meaning of the book’s title reflects how locals and visitors might reflect on the place. I hope that this ambiguity is also in-keeping with the way some of the pictures can be interpreted.

Centred around the humble park bench, I wanted to get across the feelings of poignancy, humour and pathos that have struck me over the years. During the process of editing, I couldn’t help but begin to construct stories about the subjects’ lives or situation. It was interesting, to me, to think about this in relation to the people who had been here before- memorialised by the plaques on the benches.

Justin is a member of the international photography collective, Burn my Eye (www.burnmyeye.org) since it’s creation almost 5 years ago. They have exhibited in Cardiff, London, Brighton (Photo Biennial 2014, where Justin took part in a panel discussion discussing the value of working collectively), Paris and recently in San Francisco (StreetFoto festival.