A Devon photographer has captured the haunting images of the abandoned Ilford Park Polish Home, near Newton Abbot.
Ken Holland's new book Little Poland is a journey in photographs through the old home, which was abandoned in 1993, and demolished in 2010.
The book, commended finalist in the 2014 international Photobook Competition organised by the Royal Photographic Society, was 18 years in the making.
The old Ilford Park Polish Home, at Stover, near Newton Abbot, was vacated when the residents moved to purpose-built new accommodation in 1992.
The old buildings were originally used as an American military hospital during the Second World War, and then became a home for hundreds of Polish people.
They had survived the war, but feared the Soviets as much as the Nazis, and, like many, settled in Britain. The whole area became known locally as Little Poland.
Teignmouth photographer Ken began photographing the derelict buildings of the old home in 1996.
He was inspired by a friend of his wife who was born and grew up there. She felt that the memories of the old camp buildings should be preserved for the future before it was demolished.
Ken obtained permission to gain access to a potentially dangerous site, and spent years photographing the buildings, artefacts and belongings that were left behind by the previous residents. He was finally compelled to stop when vandals made the site a health hazard. He continued to photograph the demolition of the site in 2009, and even recorded the remains of the site after it had been levelled.
Little Poland contains more than 100 pages of evocative images in fine art monochrome, and may be previewed and ordered from Blurb.co.uk.
Ken has kept text to a minimum, allowing the photographs to speak for themselves. They capture the melancholy and the empty space of a place that was once so full of life. They tell the story of a proud, resourceful and industrious community who made a new life for themselves in Britain.
Ken is a life member of Dawlish & Teignmouth Camera Club, is frequently invited to lecture and judge at Camera Clubs across the South West & Wales, and has taught City & Guilds courses.
