Aïdes: the unseen
Aïdes is another name for Hades - the Greek god of the underworld - a kingdom which the ancient Greeks preferred not to speak of directly. It also translates as ‘the unseen’ or ‘invisible’ (a-ides), mirroring the unseen nature of modern sewage and waste-water infrastructure.
The images in Aïdes create a cinematic portrait of the flows of waste water and sewage, that draws attention to the ubiquity of these flows around towns and cities. Alongside the “real” world of modern day-to-day existence, they present a parallel world, a real world that remains mostly unseen – out of ignorance, choice, habit, or simply having something else to do. A world that is both fascinating and repulsive, and by necessity sits alongside daily human life.
The images in Aïdes create a cinematic portrait of the flows of waste water and sewage, that draws attention to the ubiquity of these flows around towns and cities. Alongside the “real” world of modern day-to-day existence, they present a parallel world, a real world that remains mostly unseen – out of ignorance, choice, habit, or simply having something else to do. A world that is both fascinating and repulsive, and by necessity sits alongside daily human life.
I am interested in showing this other world in a way that draws the gaze, that attracts as much as it repulses. Through constructed lighting, it becomes a warm, welcoming, inside world, with the visual iconography of divinity, home, love and shelter.
Photographing in twilight emphasises the other-worldly transition. Twilight is a time when night-creatures, real or imaginary, come out of hiding – a time of mystery and spirituality. Waste flows through part-concealed pipes, pumps and valves, towards treatment works; then, through the Stygian ditches and tunnels of the underworld, through hidden outflows, to the open waterways. At various points, the process can be bypassed, by design or by failure, but always in the half-light of the unseen.
The sheer population of humans, even pre-1900, far exceeded the waste-processing capacity of “natural” processes in rivers and waterways. Sewage processing was established as an essential public service, through the construction of extensive underground and above-ground infrastructure. When this works well, it diverts waste from waterways and provides accelerated biological processing of many waste products. This partial processing is deemed sufficient to allow natural processes to complete the clean-up. However, climate change, increasing population, lack of investment and enhanced measurement of spills, mean that sewage is now understood to be a major contributor to environmental issues in waterways and coastal areas. None of England’s river stretches is in good or high overall health; and 54% of these rivers are impacted by issues relating to the water industry.
For more information, see the State of Our Rivers Report (https://theriverstrust.org/rivers-report-2024).
Photographing in twilight emphasises the other-worldly transition. Twilight is a time when night-creatures, real or imaginary, come out of hiding – a time of mystery and spirituality. Waste flows through part-concealed pipes, pumps and valves, towards treatment works; then, through the Stygian ditches and tunnels of the underworld, through hidden outflows, to the open waterways. At various points, the process can be bypassed, by design or by failure, but always in the half-light of the unseen.
The sheer population of humans, even pre-1900, far exceeded the waste-processing capacity of “natural” processes in rivers and waterways. Sewage processing was established as an essential public service, through the construction of extensive underground and above-ground infrastructure. When this works well, it diverts waste from waterways and provides accelerated biological processing of many waste products. This partial processing is deemed sufficient to allow natural processes to complete the clean-up. However, climate change, increasing population, lack of investment and enhanced measurement of spills, mean that sewage is now understood to be a major contributor to environmental issues in waterways and coastal areas. None of England’s river stretches is in good or high overall health; and 54% of these rivers are impacted by issues relating to the water industry.
For more information, see the State of Our Rivers Report (https://theriverstrust.org/rivers-report-2024).