Daniel Harvey Gonzalez 2020 Highly Commended
The boarded up store front of Basildon Bowl, closed without notice in September 2015, to make room for the development of 87 flats adjacent to it. With an indoor laser tag, Wimpy restaurant, and pool tables Basildon Bowl was an affordable place for families to go to for nearly three decades. October, 2019. © Daniel Harvey Gonzalez
Alex, Connor, and Tom play cards in Ella’s flat in Mill Green Court. November, 2019. © Daniel Harvey Gonzalez
An abandoned kebab truck sits parallel to a housing block in Ballards Walk, en route to Basildon town centre. November, 2019. © Daniel Harvey Gonzalez
Luke, known as “Lucky”, poses for his portrait behind the Owl and Pussycat pub in Basildon. September, 2019. © Daniel Harvey Gonzalez
Alex poses for his portrait, showing off a handmade tattoo of a smiley face. October, 2019. © Daniel Harvey Gonzalez
A broken sign post in Basildon, leaving only the directions for the Sports and Youth Centre in its correct position. November, 2019. © Daniel Harvey Gonzalez
Connor and Katie show off their matching tattoos. “NBF” stands for “nothing but flavours”. December, 2019. © Daniel Harvey Gonzalez
Connor poses for a portrait in the bedroom of Ella’s flat, showing off a tattoo of a duck on his back. November, 2019. © Daniel Harvey Gonzalez
Katie sits atop Tom’s shoulders and poses for a portrait outside Ella’s flat. December, 2019. © Daniel Harvey Gonzalez
Graffiti on a sports cage in the Five Links Estate in Basildon. The estate was dubbed “Alcatraz” by Labour councillor Joe Morgan in the 70s for its fortess-like architecture and high rate of crime. December, 2019. © Daniel Harvey Gonzalez
Connor and Tom pose for their portrait in the garden of Ella’s flat on the morning of the December general election. December, 2019. © Daniel Harvey Gonzalez
Alex, Connor, and Katie play darts in the Owl and Pussycat on the eve of the December general election. December, 2019. © Daniel Harvey Gonzalez
Bellwether Town
Built in 1949, Basildon is the last and the largest of post-war new towns built in Britain, specifically to house the expanding population of working-class east Londoners. Basildon is home to the Basildon Man (otherwise known as ‘Mr. Thatcher’ or ‘Mondeo Man’) archetype, immortalised in the 80s by social commentator Harry Enfield’s ‘Loadsamoney’ character who is portrayed as an illiterate working class painter and decorator with no sense but plenty of money – somebody who had done well as a result of Thatcherite economic policy. In the generations born after Basildon Man, money and economic investment dried up. Shot over the course of the run up to the 2019 general election and Britain’s departure from the European Union, Bellwether Town explores the relationship between place and identity for a group of young people aged 17 to 22 who have experienced the consequences of economic downturn in a place once described by Hayes and Hudson as the ‘laboratory of Thatcher’s revolution’.
About the Photographer
Daniel Harvey Gonzalez (b. 1997) is a documentary photographer based in the United Kingdom whose practice is concerned with social issues informed by his own lived experience; more specifically he is interested in how environments shape identities and the relationship that exists between person and place. Gonzalez has shown work at the 2018 Guernsey Photography Festival, the 71a Gallery in London, and Bene Culture in Birmingham. Selected awards and publications include an honourable mention in the 2019 International Photography Awards, a commendation in the 2016 Sony World Photography Awards, and publications with Loose London and Lost Generation Projects. He graduated from the Documentary Photography degree at the University of South Wales in 2020.