I’ve followed the lives of several people within a 3 mile radius of the Market Town where I live in Dereham, East Anglia for the past 3 years. Over the course of working on these stories many situations have arisen and been documented, isolation, poverty, drug abuse, homelessness, self harm, mental illness, juvenile crime, epilepsy though for myself the over riding experience has been one of endurance in spite of the impossible walls life often presents to us. Wall’s that box us in, wall’s that separate us, wall’s to climb to be set free.

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This selection of images is a brief look within these documented lives. Lives lived in the U.K. Lives lived in the now. Lives lived within times of much change. As the cultural, political and economic landscape changes these stories depict the final destination for the results of many of those high up and far away decisions and influences. These images depict the full stop of the Welfare State cuts, Housing Benefit cuts, Health cuts, loopholes and failures of systems and what happens when the heart of a community is slowly eroded. These images also depict the lives of those hanging on, bowed yet not broken, of lives where a fight to survive is very real. Fighting apathy, addiction, fighting loneliness, illness all the while clinging to self respect, adrift in the community, in life, but not yet lost.

Your community is exactly that, yours. Everyone has their story. I hope you’ll make time to visit the Small Town Inertia site and read the interviews and testimony of the people that have given so much to appear in these images, their stories are all that count.

Jim Mortram lives in Dereham, East Anglia, UK.