A new exhibition places the spotlight on the region's coal mining past. Gavin Engelbrecht talks to the photographer behind the work

BORN during the height of the Miner’s Strike 30 years ago, pitman’s son Carl Joyce grew up with an abiding sense of anger. His hometown – Horden, near Peterlee – suffered mass unemployment and neglect in the wake of the pit closure.

As a child, his playground was the desolate pit site and derelict buildings. And with no job prospects when he left school, Carl was forced to seek his fortunes elsewhere - travelling the world before eventually returning to the UK study photography.

Using his new-found talents, Carl revisited his hometown to record the outcome of the political turmoil of his youth and expose its effects.

The resulting documentary project has led to an Ebook call A Miner’s Son, accompanied by an enlightening exhibition which has opened in Durham Town Hall.

Carl, who now lives in the city, says: “Horden was a village forgotten by everybody. The Government and local government broke promises to regenerate the area. As a 19-year-old there was nothing here for me.”

Carl travelled to 25 countries around Europe and Asia and got a job in an Australian mine. While away, he developed a passion for photography and is now making a career of it, studying for a photography degree at Sunderland University. “While I was away, I remained angry at Horden for not giving me much back and I never really new why," he says. "Then I became more aware of the politics of it all and Margaret Thatcher’s role in the demise of what was once a thriving coal industry. When I returned, I decided to go back and revisit the place I grew up and where my father still lives. I wanted to lay ghosts to rest and do a documentary project capturing the remains of the pit, before they are completely wiped out.”

The exhibition includes images of a scarred landscape, an old coal railway line, remnants of conveyor belts that are still used in some of the allotments and the Dewhirst factory shop, which has since been demolished. Carl also interviewed and photographed people he knew as a child, such as Eddie Hardilam, who opened a local local tattoo parlour with his pit redundancy money.

“It was quite emotional for me going back to Horden," he says. “It has been an eye-opener which has also helped me put some feelings to rest, because I was angry there was nothing to progress to. Since I have gone back and spoken to people, I’ve realised it’s not such a bad place – after seeing how people have to live in places like Cambodia and India. My attitude has changed. It’s the people that make the place and the people are lovely friendly people. It’s a shame that it has never had anything more than a pit.”

“I hope the book and exhibition appeal to people of my generation, who grew up seeing their parents struggling. It would be nice to change perspectives.”

A Miner's Son runs at Durham Town Hall, Market Square, Durham, until March 31. For more information visit www.carljoyce.co.uk