The images that make up the Decline series were taken in a former local authority care home for the elderly in the UK. Built in the 1960s, it housed up to 55 residents and several staff before regulation changes forced it to close, displacing its occupants. Taken in an objective style, the images invite the viewer to contemplate the domestic space with the subtle details that allude to its history; its previous occupants and the events that have taken place there.
Originally a blank canvas, these spaces have slowly evolved and developed their personality through decoration by each successive occupant. From a change of colour or addition of a patterned border to the simple hanging of a family photograph, this decoration appears to fulfil the human need to personalise the domestic space in order to claim it as our own. However, despite these changes, these personal spaces still retain an institutional air. The functional utility of the furniture and the ubiquitous emergency alarm boxes remind us that this is a controlled environment; that with the loss of our personal faculties and an increasing reliance on others, old age can bring with it a painful loss of autonomy.
The full series can be seen here: DECLINE