Chris and I first discovered Jessica on a walk around the industrial estate that plays home to UK Film Lab. It’s a great place to explore. Especially on a sunny Sunday the bright colours from the variety of buildings and surrounding trees and the noises from unidentified manufacturing processes combine to give the feel of an eerily deserted playground. We found Jessica when we took a turn up what we thought would be a barricaded dead-end but instead found an avenue of previously undiscovered industrial units. One of the units belonged to a tiny MOT testing garage, and tucked away between the side of the unit and a row of trees, there we found her. She was a beautiful and exciting find, and I was even more excited when I took a chance on opening the passenger side door, to find that not only was she unlocked, but that the leather Rover keyring was still in the ignition. A lack of engine meant that the owner obviously isn’t too concerned about the possibility of her being whisked away. We weren’t armed with the correct camera gear that time around but we vowed to return soon. So yesterday evening we did just that. The spring light streaming low through the branches of silver birches and hawthorn dappled her sides, illuminating what appear to be decades of lichen, moss and cobwebs. She has quite a pretty resting place, don’t you think?
I took these photographs on my Contax 645 with Kodak Ektar film pushed one stop in development, and developed and scanned back at UK Film Lab.
