Dan Briston.

Photographer. 24. West Norfolk.

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Self Portrait, February 2016

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Winter Gloom, Caerleon 2016

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Jake in the Street, Ingoldisthorpe, England, April 2017

A refreshing white streetlight lit the way as I dropped my friend Jake home after our little band practise/jam session. It had that kid of element of the visuals from Drive and its own predetermined soundtrack that we had been making earlier, I just needed to make a good exposure. I love making pictures like this in the dark.

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A Waterfall in Demolition, King’s Lynn, March 2017.

I have recently begun working on a commission of photographs of King’s Lynn by Groundwork Gallery director Veronica Sekules. I visited what is notoriously a contrasting part of the town, where the historic merchant buildings and modern urban redevelopment clash. Where historic businesses built on trade and commerce by the town’s previously busy port collide with the never-ending mission to present the region’s poorest area in an innovative and fashionable way. This waterfall, which would’ve been an indoor decoration, becomes an outdoor mural in the demolition of these old council flats as part of the regeneration of the area. Next door is the recently completed project, opposite, the offices of solicitors and accountants - a complicated cultural landscape that continues to shift.

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Another one from The Garden

A small personal project about the areas I can see from my bedroom window, it’s growing slowly and I’m beginning to use different techniques to approach it, such as coloured flashes as seen here.

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In the Garden, March 2017

I was toying around with some ideas in my head about a project in my locale. I came up with this. I’m still toying with the ideas now.

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Ethan Choosing His Records, Gloucester Soul All-Dayer, May 2016.

This image of a young but very well informed Northern Soul DJ, Ethan Howarth (who stars in the Elaine Constantine film of the same name), was an outtake for the first edition of my book ‘In Defiance Of Any Sense Of Normalcy’ but I revisited and re-edited the image to go into my submission for Riffs Journal. It fits really well in their sequencing of images for the publication. I like this photograph because it really accurately represents what it’s like to be in a Northern Soul venue; almost pitch-black.

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Paul B, King’s Lynn Soul Club, King’s Lynn, Autumn 2016.

This is one of the more recent images I’ve made for my ongoing project on UK Northern Soul. This time I’m visiting much smaller venues with a really tight-knit community spirit about them. I previously photographed Paul’s fancy embroidered shirt, but he asked me to make a picture of his incredible back tattoo, with dedications to his whole family and his life as a Northern Soul DJ. This image can be seen in my first piece of published work for Riffs here.

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Foggy Halo, Itton Common, Wales, November-December 2014

This was an outtake from my early project ‘Sauntering’ on the theme of Utopia I made whilst at university. I explored a route through Wales called the Cistercian Way, which monks used to use on pilgrimages from East to West Wales. Here I made a series of long exposures of traffic coming through where I ended my journey, waiting for a lift.

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Barry Island, South Wales, November 2015. From ‘Miner’s Fortnight’.

This is the site of what used to be Butlin’s Barry Island; a thriving resort for holidays and tourism, frequented by many mining families up until the collapse of the industry in the 70s and 80s. A site famed for its bright colours and an enormous variety of activities on-site, lasting 30 years from 1966-1996 when it was demolished. In place of it; a large car park with access to the beach and walks.

Now, the town’s modern heritage is built on it being a backdrop for BBC comedy Gavin and Stacey, the relics of its tourist heyday fading into greyness and obsolescence. ‘Miner’s Fortnight’ depicts found imagery from the era of the thriving beach resort next to the after-effects of the fallout of de-industrialisation, portraying a melancholy longing for the past and an uncertainty for the future.

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Bus Stop, Chapman’s Peak Drive, Eastern Cape, South Africa, November 2016.

I saw this surreal and captivating landscape on the way to find some food by the sea after a long drive through Chapman’s Peak. I had to go back and get this image with its varied tones, forms and textures. One of the most fascinating fusings of natural and man made, layered with more natural on top, that I’ll ever see.

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Cellar Doors, Blade Factory, Liverpool International Festival of Psychedelia, Baltic Triangle, Liverpool, September 2016

I had looked forward to this band’s set and to get such a close picture of their effects base. Really happy with this close, full, sharp shot from the psych fest.

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Liverpool International Festival of Psychedelia, Camp and Furnace, Liverpool, September 2016.

One of the most utterly weird but fantastic weekends of music ever. Had to snap this table of empty Red Stripe cans while walking by to see people playing in District.

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Alex outside my House, June 2015

Occasionally the lacklustre streetlighting around my area make for a very moody portrait, often giving its own vignette effects.

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Luke in the Kitchen, Autumn 2015.

One from the 5x4 camera, an impressive feat to set up in the kitchen it must be said.

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Beater, Glanusk Estate, Powys, Wales, Autumn 2015.

One of my favourite ever portraits, this was taken while moving to a shoot in an old army 4x4 truck, with the subject sitting at the back of the van, morning light gracing his young face. The odd mixture of blue light falling through the roof repaired by tarpaulin and natural light is interesting and rare. From Bang Goes Threepence, 2016.

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Jade at the Woodville, October 2016.

Jade and I went back to the pub where we first met on our birthday week. On a rare occasion I used my Trip with no flash and got a picture that makes me reminisce of the Turnover Peripheral  Vision album cover. She looks so calm and collected compared to when we first met, filled with nerves and excitement.