Growing up in a small town on the south coast of England wasn’t the most inspiring. It’s a pretty dead town, and as a teenager you have to think of creative ways to have fun.

When I was 18 I eagerly moved away, and never really found the beauty in it until recently. I’ve spent nine years away, the last four out of the country, and these photos taken over Christmas 2019 show my vision of this town through a different lens.

Absence makes the heart grow fonder, as they say. After spending the last third of my life living in cities, there’s something desirable about going back to my roots and photographing the simplicity of rural and suburban life.

Do I want to live there again? Not at all, but I certainly wish I’d spent more time documenting it while I had the chance.