Photographer Jan Beesley is the Edge of Humanity Magazine contributor of this photo essay. From the series ‘Metropolis’. To see Jan ’s body of work, click on any photograph.

The city can be a daunting place. People are dwarfed by huge buildings – so much hustle and bustle. But the human stories are there, between the cracks. Behind the windows in those faceless buildings are human lives with their loves, losses, and dramas. The light will find a way to shine.

We are drawn like moths to the flame. The Metropolis is at once alienating and liberating in its anonymity. The pulse of the city runs through its streets, its rivers and its railways.

While rural landscapes root us to the slow evolution of the earth. Urban landscapes are fluid and unpredictable.

Walls and billboards often hold many layers of posters, stickers, and graffiti. Over time these become new and ever-changing artworks of abstract patterns, shapes and textures. Separated from their original context, words and images left behind can speak to us in a different way to the original intent – creating new and sometimes poignant meanings.

Scrawled messages on walls are a reminder of moments, intense and meaningful, now lost, and superseded. The map tells us “You are here”, but where are we?

I found my heart

Written on the subway wall

With the words of the prophets.

I am a photographer based in Sussex, UK.  I live between the varying landscapes of the Ashdown Forest, the South Downs and the coast.  My aim is to create intuitive images which reflect my ongoing fascination with both the natural and built world and our emotional and physical connection with it. 

Time is unseen, but its rhythms are felt and seen through the changes within and around us. I am fascinated by the idea that time is non-linear, our present moments always influenced by past shadows and future possibilities.

My work leans towards the abstract, using the camera as a brush to move beyond the boundaries of conventional representation.  As form dissolves into abstraction the photograph represents not only my own intent but can also become a mirror reflecting the viewers own emotions, experiences, and memories.

All images and text © Jan Beesley