The result is PROSPECT, the culmination of several pilgrimages to Dungeness. Why this place? I really can’t remember how we decided, but it was a natural choice: we both grew up on the Romney Marsh. I’m eternally drawn to the solitude there and the legacies of Derek Jarman. As a photographer, Jen is zealous about the seascapes and skies. But all we were really doing was returning home.

Our first visit was in winter. Not really knowing what we were there for, we walked and talked. Jen snapped away. I scribbled. We left as the sun was setting, taking with us a series of monochromatic images, some as bleak and brooding as the biting winds. Others showed a more vulnerable side to the arid landscapes. I filled my notebook with equally dark verses, and spent the following weeks editing and refining.

We didn’t return to Dungeness until eight months later. This time summer had broken through. The photos sparkled with pastel tones: dusky reds, ochres and verdigris greens. Fresh poems flowed, longer and richer. It was then we realised something worthwhile was forming. What a team we made on our return visits, picnicking on the shingle in both hot sunshine and torrential rains, giggling like schoolchildren and enjoying every second of our collaboration.

Jen’s experience with digital photography was invaluable for this project, and perfectly suited the industrial otherworldliness we experienced in Dungeness. Using the digital format also allowed for on the spot checking of compositions, making our cache of images just as immediate as the poems.

Walking around this space you can see the photographs for yourself. There are also a number of leaflet dispensers, which each contain a poem. Please take one and read it while you are here. Maybe take it home with you.

Either way, we hope this opens a window on the incomparable Dungeness, and shows you some of the reasons why we love it so much.

Ben Barton