The quarries weren’t the only workplace Jack immersed himself in; one day he also found himself on a fishing boat. “These guys work insanely hard, starting at 5am and finishing at 5pm, followed by a session in the pub,” says Jack. This gruelling profession is made somewhat easier by the camaraderie Jack saw among the fishermen, something that was reflected in the pod of dolphins that followed the boat at one point in their journey, a typical sighting for the workers but one they were nonetheless keen to show Jack. “It felt like an interconnected moment,” he says, “reflecting the complex relationship between the men’s lives and their environment.”

Some encounters, however, were more complicated. In one image, a handwritten sign is carefully taped to the inside of a dusty car window, reading, “I’m not going to apologize for being a white heterosexual male.” The shot stuck with Jack throughout the project, largely because he was “so surprised that someone would take the time to write and tape that to their car window.” Despite this initial reaction, Jack tried to step back and look at the scene objectively. “The sign reflects a defensiveness in the face of perceived societal change and debates about identity, privilege and responsibility,” he says. “It speaks to the emotions that men can feel in response to changing cultural narratives about race, gender and sexuality.” In one light, Jack muses, it could be seen as an expression of vulnerability, albeit one masked in male aggression and misplaced anger.

For Jack, photography offers a level of ambiguity unmatched in other media, largely due to its ability to blur the lines between reality and fantasy so seamlessly. This ambiguity makes To live the enchanting series it is, capturing a place that many in the UK have never been to or heard of – but one of the few places in the country that is still defined by industrial production. He hopes it will encourage his audience to engage with complex (and sometimes simplified) topics such as mental health and lives shaped by work in a way they may not have done before. Ideally, Jack adds, To live could also sow a positive seed of change in still-fixed perceptions and presentations of masculinity. “In nature, rocks and stones are constantly transforming, taking on new shapes and forms as they are affected by the elements,” he says. “This shows that even the most seemingly unchanging parts of our environment are subject to change, reminding us that we too must adapt.”