A picturesque town with more than 900 Grade II listed houses and public buildings, Port Sunlight was founded in 1888 by the industrialist William Lever as a self-contained community for his soap factory workers.
The village today is an immaculately preserved example of early town planning. A prototypical garden city, Port Sunlight’s manicured gardens and parklands offer abundant green space for the village’s residents and visitors, while cultural institutions like the Lady Lever Art Gallery and The Gladstone Theatre provide access to the arts.
With just 2,000 residents, Port Sunlight is home to a small but thriving community
Walking around the beautiful village of Port Sunlight Village on a daily basis throughout 2020 Spring lockdown was a gift. The village was so quiet compared to how it normally is, with much less traffic and visitors.
At that time, all of my work as a videographer and digital motion artist was postponed or cancelled due to the pandemic and I was quite stressed about the future. Being creative isn't easy when feeling anxious but I took a one-hour walk around the village each day, mindfully taking in the details of what I saw and heard, and capturing them with my camera from unusual perspectives. I focused on the texture, shape, colours and sounds of my surroundings – walls, architecture, paving stones, pathways, trees, plants, skies, and reflections – whatever captured my interest. It was a way to distract my busy mind, finding calm and inspiration.
When I got home, I enjoyed playing around with the photographs and video clips I collected, using creative digital apps to make simple abstract videos. This daily creative practice ignited so many ideas that I could take into my video and animation professional work, as well as being good for my wellbeing.