Ben Gore’s Goodbye, Blue Monday follows the journey into adulthood

Adulting’: the terrifying notion that your parents aren’t booking your doctors appointments anymore and you have to pay taxes and rent and bills.

Brighton based photographer and illustrator, Ben Gore, has been bravely documenting this development, culminating in a book launch and exhibition this week.

Gore’s first book ‘Second Adolescence’ focused on the transition from childhood to adulthood, leaving home and being in a position of freedom for the first time as not quite an adult.

‘Goodbye, Blue Monday’ follows the next stage of his photographic life, as he documents his journey into professional independence.

“It’s about taking the first full steps of adulthood. It’s about knowing there’s a limit on your time and being responsible for what you make of it.

“All the photos were taken over the past year or so since I’ve been freelance, so I’ve been hyperaware of how I spend my time.

“The whole responsibility for making things work is on me.”

This is amplified by the fact that Gore self publishes his work through Blue Monday Press, his own independent art distributor that sells t-shirts, prints and even a set of grime artist themed Pokémon cards.

“It’s been a steep learning curve. You’ve got to have all your fingers in all the pies and depending on what is working, you focus on that.”

Gore has spent a year working on this book, looking for symbols around him, “like a treasure hunt”.

One image displays a figurine of Woody from Toy Story hanging from a light cord in his friend’s bathroom.

“That photo especially was a jumping off point of knowing what the project was about – it’s a symbol of the end of childhood.

“I grew up in the Toy Story era and that’s like Woody’s corpse!”

His ethereal style gives the feeling you’re looking down the lens straight into someone else’s life.

“It is a case of cataloguing my life,” he says.

“I’m taking little glimpses out of time and saving it, keeping those memories.”

‘Goodbye, Blue Monday’ launches at the Doomed Gallery in Dalston on July 21. Until July 24.