Photography

Slowly but surely the other old buildings near this little suburban row are disappearing, and yet somehow these long-closed shops still survive. Each and every time I turn the corner, I worry that the demolition crew might have been and gone, so each and every time the structures are still standing is another chance to enjoy seeing them.

In the decade or more I’ve been visiting the area, only the place on the left has actually been occupied. It still is in fact. The tiny eatery it once housed was already closed for business by the time I first wandered past, but the old lady who once run it still lives there. She still uses the tiny kitchen where she previously cooked for customers as well. Her continued presence more than likely the only reason the buildings remain.

What the middle shop was I don’t know, but the one on the right has the look of a beauty salon or hairdressers — its now uneven tiles and colourful awning making it by far my favourite.

That said, they work so well together. A little slice of the past in a rapidly modernising location, with their fading imperfections making them more and more perfect each passing day.

The sale has been on at this little shoe and slipper shop for as long as I’ve been walking past, but with everything still not gone, it somehow just soldiers on.

This tiny building has fascinated me since I first found it over a decade ago. Its size, shape and dilapidated state are intriguing enough, but added to all that is the fact that somebody may actually live there. And even if they don’t, it’s certainly somewhere they spend a lot of time, as more often than not there’s a light on inside and the door, for want of a better description, is open. On top of that, the house behind it was recently demolished, providing a proper look at the rear of the property, although in many ways that has created more questions than answers.

That said, I finally do have one answer, and that’s whose property it is. When walking by alone, I always stop for a little while in the hope of someone appearing, and at long last that happened the other day. It doesn’t confirm whether it is indeed a home or not, but at least I now have a face to add to the building’s incredible facade.

For reasons unknown, I never got round to reading Ryu Murakami‘s Coin Locker Babies, but its title always stuck in my mind. A reminder of sorts that seems to sit quietly in my subconscious until I see lots of lockers, then it pops into my thoughts before immediately retreating once again.

The scene below, on the other hand, was really quite different, as it almost felt like that memory had been waiting all those years for this one specific moment.