York Squared - Square 9: Hungate

This pdf ebook is the extended 'director's cut', containing additional photos and information, to my chapter in the full York Squared book, available to preview and order on the Blurb bookstore: http://www.blurb.co.uk/b/4876238-york-squared

York Squared was a year-long project by York-based photography collective, Incident Light. The city was divided roughly into squares and each member of the group had a square allocated at random. The project intended not just to reach the parts of this much-photographed city that most other photographic ventures do not, but to do this in a way that utilised the different approach of each photographer to create a truly unique showcase of both city and photographer.

My square (Square 9) covered the Hungate area immediately to the east of the city centre. The area has long been in the shadows of its more attractive and celebrated neighbours. Swathes of terraces from the 1800s declined into slums and were demolished. The replacement Stonebow development, post-war and concrete heavy, is loved by few and hated by many. On top of this, a large waste incinerator plant occupied much of the area throughout the twentieth century.

Today, the area is in its latest phase of regeneration. York’s largest ever archaeological exploration prepared the ground for a large development of modern flats, with more on the way. Typically for Hungate, progress has not been smooth, the global recession halted progress and threatened to stop it all together. And while the future is by no means assured, building has re-started and there is a clearer timeline for completion.