Sophy Monk

"...it's been a tough fight worth fighting, as we all drive along betting on another day.” Charles Bukowski, Gamblers All

I wanted to document the dog races – the hope and despair and the dreams of instant wealth. There is an underclass realism of a subculture dominated by old aged men and like-minded social kin.

I wanted to convey that loneliness and desperation by working with the desolate light, empty spaces, mid 60s décor and symbolic colour. Allied with an economy in decline and a recession over-due, my images describe an aspect of historic British culture struggling to retain a sense of stability and the divide of winning and losing in 2008. Hopefully the images demonstrate more intimately, the reality and consequences of a short cut to short-term wealth.

The photographs in this series were made at the Portsmouth Greyhound Races and The Ladbrokes in Winchester.

Images and text © Sophy Monk