Van Dwellers
This project documents the lives of individuals who have chosen to live in vans across Cornwall, exploring alternative forms of home, mobility, and belonging. Rather than focusing solely on lifestyle aesthetics, the work centres on the personal philosophies and lived realities that underpin this way of life.
Through portraits and interviews, the series examines the social, economic, and political factors that lead people to live outside conventional housing structures. It considers questions of freedom, precarity, and autonomy, while drawing attention to broader issues around housing, land access, and social exclusion that often remain overlooked. Positioned between documentary observation and social critique, the project challenges dominant assumptions about stability and success, and invites reflection on what it means to live freely within contemporary Britain.
Tom
It's the keeping up with the Rat Race. When you see that your money becomes less, thanks to inflation and all of that jazz. When your rent's going up and your wages are staying the same, your working hard just to stay afloat, there's no prospect of saving money in that situation when things turn ruff or you get an unexpected payment. These were some of the reasons that pushed me to living in the van. It's this constant pressure to just keep my head above water.
I've worked jobs where I'm working forty or fifty hours a week and it's brutal and I don't feel like I'm the best person I can be or that I'm giving the best art out. Suffocating is the word I'd use.
Perhaps we should assess our priorities in society and figure out what is actually important, because I don't need a fancy car, I don't need shoes most of the time but what I do need is clean air and clean water and just a place to park up for the night and that's me!
In terms of what I've seen from the local van community, I see a lot of people who want to be in nature and so they live in vans and they respect the nature. You see a lot of us making a point of going out and picking litter and trying to make the place as nice as possible. So there are perceived issues of van lifers that aren't necessarily accurate.
Q: Final words of wisdom?
Keep smiling, Keep Shining. Get outdoors, go for a walk, put your phone down and know that there are a lot of beautiful people out there, who are too scared to make the first move ,so just fricken smile at everyone. The universe always moves in a positive direction, regardless of how it looks.
Jacob
Best thing I ever did, just the freedom, how cheap it is to live. I was full into the rat race. I was a mechanic for seven years and I didn't even have a clue what the "rat race", was. Since moving into a van I learnt that that life was completely not what I wanted and seeing people in that, it's just not for me.
My mental health skyrocketed up since this way of life. You start to live learning that you don't need everything that you get when you live in a house. It makes you appreciate the smaller things rather than having everything. It just simplifies everything down, so you have to appreciate the little things.
As a nation we don't look after van lifers full stop. There isn't facilities for us unless you live on a campsite which most of us don't because we don't want to be tied down. If you go to cities you are judged, to them you are free-loading. You do get a lot of people coming up to saying you should be doing more. The government needs to make a set-up, similar to Europe, where you pay a small fee for the night or just somewhere where we are allowed to be. They need to speak to us, come see what we're doing and see we're not threatening because there isn't any representation.
I always try be as welcoming as possible to break those stereotypes, just making sure that I dont look threatening. The community as a whole is lovely in the south west. Everyone looks after each other.
Theoretically we are sleeping inside small tin walls, we are sleeping outside as such, and that does feed this connection with nature. I do feel a part of this counter-culture and I know a lot of people who would agree.
I didn't feel trapped inside society's demands, but I didn't realize how much freedom I could have got.
In terms of my philosophy, it just gives me more time. If you don't feel comfortable in your day to day, pull yourself away, enjoy a different kind of life.
Q: Final words of wisdom?
Just go and be free, make people happy, make people smile.
Kieran
Living in a van is very hard. You have to put a lot of effort in maintaining the van which is stressful, but I look at it as a way for me to live anywhere. There are so may extra benefits of van life, so I would say the negatives are massively outweighed. It's definitely helped in my self control, in order to maintain my life. It gives you appreciation for these small things that we take for granted when living in a house which I enjoy.
People forget you're a human being when you live in a van; people forget boundaries. There different attitudes people look at you with. I haven't had too many issues with van life, I try to be as respectful as I can but there are some people who can't accept that you live a different life than them. They look at you like you're going to cause a problem or defecate in a bush. Initially that was hard to get over.
You kind of realise that you're not here to please everyone. I started living in this van because I didn't have money for a house not to make everyone smile. Before you make any assumptions, I ask that people come over and have a chat. I love people, that's why I sit here with my door open.
I've had very bad mental health in my life so I struggle to work a lot of hours consistently, for me at the moment, it's been an absolute game changer. When I'm going through hard times, I don't have the stress of needing to work forty hours to pay rent.
More people should jump in a van. The parking side is very restrictive down here, kind of on purpose. Each person doesn't need as much room as they have in a house.
Q: Final words of wisdom?
If you're thinking about doing it, living off grid, just do it. I thought about it for a few years and it's only when I said "you know what, I'm just going to do it". To anyone who's struggling financially, from a similar situation as me where you have bad mental health and have to pay an extortionate amount of rent, move into a van.