If you would like to order this piece in a larger size pop us an email.
Collection Brief
Prefab came about as an offshoot of 'A View of the Fens Car with Wings'. In 1993 I made a number of images of post war prefabricated houses in Chatteris in Cambridgeshire. To my surprise when I returned a few months later to hopefully get more intimate interior pictures, they had been modernised in such a way they no longer looked like their former selves. I decided to contact Fenland District Council to start a collaborative project to record the remaining 'Prefabs' in the area before they were refurbished. This took me to Wisbech where a small row of prefabs still remained in their original form. One house stuck out for me, 'Number 36', the house of Mrs Swan, a widow who had lived in that house since it was built just after WWII. The house had been beautifully looked after and remained in its original state. In some ways the house was perfect, too good to be true. But soon everything was to be ripped out and replaced with new. Beautiful steel cupboards were replaced with Formica and chipboard, domestic enamel were replaced with plastic. Mrs Swan stayed in the house as it was rebuilt around her, as if she was being entombed in a time warp.
Sizes may vary slightly from image to image as we make each composition from the negative individually, either showing Richard's signature ragged edge (white border) as he prints full frame or showing the film rebate (black border) often showing the film make. Where the image size varies we adjust the window mount in order to maintain a frame size so like for like sizes can hang together.
Artwork Description
Richard makes the c-type prints from negative in his own analogue colour darkroom in Cambridge. His paper of choice is Kodak Professional Endura Premier Gloss. When Richard has chosen to evolve the artwork, we work with Streamline Colour Lab. In our studio the print is dry-mounted to dibond which ensures a very flat image surface in both the short and long term. The prints are matted (window mounted) using a museum quality 100% cotton rag board especially manufactured to be compatible with the C-type archival Kodak photographic paper Richard uses. Richard does all mounting himself, using his precision engineering background to create the finished artwork. Eleanor fits the artworks to the frames. Traditionally photographic prints are signed and numbered on the back, accompanied by a certificate of authenticity. They can be signed on the front of the mount by request. If you would like us to make a larger artwork that is possible, the sizes listed are the largest we can make in our darkroom but we can go larger with our printing partners so please get in touch to discuss it.
Framing Description
Our frames are hand-made in the UK by Menor Photographic Fine Art Printing & Framing Specialists in Hertfordshire. We offer a choice of black or white wooden box frames which have depth to suit the size of the picture, the artwork set back from the glass. Our black frames are made from matt ebony stained obeche, in which you can see the detail of the wood grain whereas our white frames are made from beech and the wood grain is not visible. The wood is sustainably forested for both variations of frame. Artglass AR 70™ is a premium anti-reflective glass used by the finest museums around the world. If you would like to present you artwork in another way, we offer the choice to buy an unframed print only and can advise you on other options or recommend reputable companies to carry out the work.