Bit of a random one, but having looked at the Riviera book (which is lovely), something rang a bell. Are you the same Stephen Hughes who put on a show c.2001/2 with some landscapes of marginal, edge-of-town places, seascapes, apartment blocks etc?
If so, I went to that show and still have the book.
Thanks everyone, it hit the mark but didn't have the effect I had sadly hoped.