Photographer creates post-apocalyptic pictures of Ashford
Published: 05:00, 23 April 2023
A photographer has captured what a Kent town would look like at the end of the world.
The post-apocalyptic scenes have been created by Steven Rees, from Ashford, who has revealed what well-known locations in the town could look like in a bleak future.
Locations include the international station car park, Ashford College and the entrance to County Square shopping centre.
He creates the pictures by taking a regular photograph of the scene and then uses software to distort the images.
But after sharing the dystopian style snaps online, he received mixed reviews from residents.
He has now stopped sharing them on some Facebook groups, because of the negative responses.
"I shared them on two groups which have thousands of members," he said.
"It is quite interesting really. I have been putting these up over the past three or four weeks and have had a mixed bag of reviews.
"One or two people were actually quite upset about the photographs to the extent that they started complaining.
“It reached such a point that I posted a picture with a caption saying I was going to stop posting them for a while."
Mr Rees has also received a lot of positive reactions to his work however, which he says outweighs the negative reactions.
"I was absolutely inundated with support from the Ashford community which is amazing," he says.
"It made me feel really good and one or two people suggested that I should start up my own Facebook page for it which I had actually recently done. It is called 'Dystopian Wanders'.
"I have had quite a good response so far and I am hoping it will grow in time.
"Some people have asked me if I would start selling prints of my photographs which is something I am keen to look into. I am always out with a camera, it is a hobby but I would love to be able to make a living from it."
Mr Rees, who is retired, started creating the photographs because he likes things with an edge to them.
"The post apocalyptic photographs are a new thing I have been creating," he said.
"I picked up my first camera in 1980 - it was a film camera.
“I am by no means an expert, I just try things out all of the time.
"I have always liked urban and street photography - something with a bit of an edge to it."
The response he received on Facebook however has made him reconsider how he shares his content.
"It has made me rethink things a little bit on how to approach things slightly differently," he said.
"I had a larger audience on the other Facebook groups so it is a shame I have had to stop posting the pictures.
"I would like to get my photography out there and sometimes it is a bit difficult."
Mr Rees says he is keen to create these style of photographs in London because there is so much architecture there.
"I am always photographing buildings," he said.
"There is some amazing architecture in London.
"I could even manipulate some of the photographs I have got from other parts of the world."
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Chantal Weller