Every place contains an accumulated store of experiences, memories and emotions. Sometimes these are obvious to the eye or ear, but sometimes they are hidden.

We have focussed on specific places, researched, studied and physically explored. But we have also learned to listen: to let a place and its people speak. Then we can begin to appreciate the nuances and complexities, the layering, the hidden corners as well as the busy thoroughfares.

The 'spirit of place' is often surprising, richer, and more contradictory than we imagine. Attentive humility is required to avoid mistranslation. We need to hear the stories that are only reluctantly voiced due to that very fear of misunderstanding.