Marc Provins

I glide in and out of cities every day, travelling by train between Manchester and Liverpool and back again. Warrington is bang in the middle. I realised this week that my periphery series is a reaction to my commute and the view you get of the world from a train window. Inspired by these journeys, I have been exploring the periphery of towns and cities by foot, investigating the constant battle between nature and the manmade world. I’m using my camera to compile evidence, documenting a power struggle between the natural world we emerged from and the twenty first century human race that we have become. Every city is different and it would seem the periphery reveals something of the wealth, attitude and governance of the centre. Some cities fade slowly and remain cultivated for mile upon mile, others dwindle quickly into periphery and neglect, passing control back to nature. Accidental tableau present themselves, bucolic scenes emerge from the urban commotion, but nothing is standing

When the Trafford Centre opened 20 years ago I despised it. It's cheap, fake architecture, borrowing from every period in human history seemed the height of bad taste. Built by the uber corporation The Peel Group who own huge swaths of land in and around Manchester and Liverpool it was the ultimate two fingers to independent urban chic. Now I live 5 minutes drive away, or I can walk it in half an hour and I have a different relationship with it. I'm still pondering exactly what that relationship is, but as a photographer the walk is interesting and I've been using this journey to continue my Periphery series, exploring the struggle between nature and humans. As I write that sentence I know we are part of nature, but we seem determined to distance ourselves from the rhythms of day and night and the seasons.  I'm interested in how we attempt to shape nature, and how that control is fragile, a little neglect soon gives nature the upper hand.  I'm exploring