And some from neighbouring Creekside. More to be done here, I think, around the theme of erasure and overwriting. There was a community here until the 1950s, providing housing for people employed in the industrial works in the area. This was demolished to make space for further industrial development, and people relocated to other estates in Barking. Former residents meet regularly, and there is a simple heritage trail around the area, though very low profile. Might offer the opportunity to combine exploration of the area and former residents’ emotional ties with object focused and archival work.
Series of photographs taken from the supermarket car park which now occupies the former site of the Ilford Ltd factory and head office (1880 to 1976) in Roden Street, Ilford. Home of HP5 and FP4.
This activity landed while I was chairing a review of a Russian university in Moscow. We had a meeting with students that day, so I asked if anyone would like to help me with an assignment after the review was over. Stanislav contacted me later, so I sent him the brief and we met on Sunday afternoon. We talked for about an hour about where he lived and his life in Moscow, and planned the places we would visit and how we would work together on the task. We spent the rest of the day visiting different parts of Moscow to talk and take photographs, and then sat over a drink to review what we had and work on a structure. The next day I sent him the selected images in order with some draft text based on the interview and subsequent conversations, which he modified by return. I then put together this simple image and text presentation.
We both enjoyed the process. With limited time available, and now being in two countries (I returned to London on Monday), it’s not a deep piece of work. But I can see the potential to develop this kind of collaborative approach. I also want to think more about how to present this kind of work, and how to explore deeper and more demanding issues. I’d have been happier with an spoken commentary over the images but no time for that. And a juxtaposition of images in some way. This will help with the fieldwork I am doing with planning students at UCL Bartlett over the coming weeks.
I’m really grateful to Stanislav for his generosity and openness. I got to see parts of Moscow that otherwise I wouldn’t have explored. And, believe me, it is way more scary being told not to photograph by security guards in Russian!
This prompted me to look at other photographs from the same session, and then to try to produce other pieces that could become part of a series. Taking a long walk through the park on a bright autumn day led to the discovery that this light is particular to a section of woods above the pathway of alongside the river, facing west (which has been cleared up since the initial photographs). Walking through the undergrowth, looking for objects and light made making photographs feel like a forensic activity.
With the change in direction of plans for my final project, and shorter, duller days, and inspired by the London Nights exhibition at the Museum of London, these are likely to be the last daytime photographs from RVP.
Did portraiture course at City Lit last week. Preparation for getting to grips with portraits for major project. Made studio and street images with natural light, studio lighting (flash and constant) and on camera flash (including fill in). Lots to learn, but now at least have a basic grounding. And some ideas around the use of backdrops in the field. Selection of images below.
Needed some quick images for the oral presentation addressing the issue of gentrification, so stopped by Hackney Wick on the way to work. Here are the four images I used in the presentation. More work to do on the other images, and more visits to spend some time exploring further.
