Around the Stump was commissioned by GRAIN Projects as part of a programme supporting new photographic responses to rural communities in the English Midlands, and was later published in the book The Rural Gaze.
The project was made in the agricultural market town of Boston in Lincolnshire. The title refers to the spire of St Botolph’s Church — known locally as “The Stump” — which rises above the flat fenland landscape and can be seen for miles across the surrounding farmland.
Boston came to national attention during the 2016 referendum after recording the largest vote to leave the European Union of any UK constituency. I visited the town in the years following the referendum to photograph the community and explore how a place so closely defined by agriculture and the land had become deeply divided by Brexit.
Lincolnshire produces around one eighth of the UK’s food, and the landscape surrounding Boston is dominated by fields of barley, wheat and oilseed rape alongside crops such as potatoes, cabbages, carrots, onions and lettuce. These crops require large amounts of seasonal labour, which has led to a significant influx of Eastern European agricultural workers who are now an established part of the community.
The resulting photographs form a contemporary portrait of Boston, reflecting both the central role agriculture plays in the local economy and the social and political tensions that shaped one of the most decisive Brexit votes in the country.
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Around the Stump was commissioned by GRAIN Projects as part of a programme supporting new photographic responses to rural communities in the English Midlands, and was later published in the book The Rural Gaze.
The project was made in the agricultural market town of Boston in Lincolnshire. The title refers to the spire of St Botolph’s Church — known locally as “The Stump” — which rises above the flat fenland landscape and can be seen for miles across the surrounding farmland.
Boston came to national attention during the 2016 referendum after recording the largest vote to leave the European Union of any UK constituency. I visited the town in the years following the referendum to photograph the community and explore how a place so closely defined by agriculture and the land had become deeply divided by Brexit.
Lincolnshire produces around one eighth of the UK’s food, and the landscape surrounding Boston is dominated by fields of barley, wheat and oilseed rape alongside crops such as potatoes, cabbages, carrots, onions and lettuce. These crops require large amounts of seasonal labour, which has led to a significant influx of Eastern European agricultural workers who are now an established part of the community.
The resulting photographs form a contemporary portrait of Boston, reflecting both the central role agriculture plays in the local economy and the social and political tensions that shaped one of the most decisive Brexit votes in the country.
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