Sarah Louise Stedeford, 25, currently lives in north London – but she hasn’t always done. The photographer – who’s currently splitting her time between casting for a zine and shooting fashion editorial and commercial – has produced a haunting personal project called Suburban Youth, which brings to mind heady memories of running for the last train while high, Tommy Girl eau de toilette and White Lightening.
Here, in a short essay, Sarah explains her own relationship with one of the most important – yet overlooked – cornerstones of British adolescence:
“I spent my teenage years between west London and the south west suburbs. I think this demonstrated the differences between the two from quite early on. Home kind of became both or neither places. I guess this allowed me to see the suburbs from both an insider’s and an outsider’s perspective.
“Travelling on the long suburban trains every day, I would always sit near the window and watch the suburban towns pass by. I shot most of the landscapes in this series from the window of the train, it felt quite true to the subject. Anyone from these areas will be very familiar with the train journeys. The train was moving too quickly for me to have much time to compose or focus on something specifically. This was quite interesting to me, to see what I had captured and that when editing, one of the images would speak to me in some way, reminding me of something, even though I couldn’t really put my finger on what it was.”
Hounslow
“The project as a whole does feel like a series of blurred memories to me, and I feel like this when I visit these areas. It’s not something specific that I remember…it’s a feeling. Lots of memories all tied together and kind of blurred.
“I think this is true for the suburbs itself. There is a different feeling in this area. But I don’t think it has a very clear identity.
“Whenever I would say where I was from, to someone who didn’t know the area, the only way to explain was to say where it was between. These areas feel busy, with trains, planes and cars running through, round and over, all leaving a sheet of grey dust behind them. But there is also a feeling of calm, like the dust has settled. This feels quite surreal too. Its not busy on the streets, but there is a sense of movement. Its like a pit stop place, only used in order to get to somewhere else. I guess this is its strange identity in a way.”
Olly @ Milk
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