Blueprint is my codename for a new project which looks at the redevelopment of East London. For now I have decided to focus on the area around Spitalfields/Whitechapel. These districts border onto the City which in encroaching more and more into the space that was once East London.
Talking to many locals who visited the Lifting the Curtain Exhibition it became abundantly clear that inappropriate and insensitive redevelopment is a major concern. Property prices are edging the local community out and developers are keen to maximise on their investment. Many commented on this image from Lifting the Curtain which neatly summarises the issue. I have decided to look again at the changing urban scene in East London, starting in Whitechapel and Spitalfields.
Whitechapel High Street “…clearances and rebuildings cause a far greater disturbance of population… The model blocks do not… provide for the displaced population, so much as for an equivalent number of others, sometimes of a different class.”
An initial concept for the work was explained in my previous post here. The idea is that I will produce a series of photographs which will document the redevelopment activity going on in East London today. The work will be presented in an ‘antique’ style to lure the viewer in on the pretext that they are about to see a picturesque, possibly historic scene.The photographs will be small so that the viewer has come close to see what is going on. Once hooked the viewer soon realise that the images in fact show the dreadful reality of what is happening.
I have many different options for printing/presenting the work. The option referred to in the previous post was to print using cyanotype techniques. Other options include liquid silver gelatin printing onto rag paper, use of a pinhole camera, digital manipulation to simulate an antique look and so on.
The first stage however is to get out with my camera and capture what is happening. To begin with I have decided to use a lightweight digital camera (Sony A7s) with a very wide angled lens (15mm). This approach enables me to capture the vastness of the redevelopment activity from street level, even when I am close to the subject. With this lens the people pictured in the frame look tiny – overwhelmed perhaps(?).
Here are some early images (all processed in Lightroom and Silver Efex Pro):
Christ’s Church Spitalfields
Bishopsgate Institute
Bishopsgate
Spital Square
Fleur de Lys Street
Folgate Street
photo-graph 
Catherine
October 27, 2015
Tricky photography there! When I saw “Blueprint” I immediately thought of cyanotypes (of course)! The processing you’ve used has an entirely different feel – something disappearing.
Keith Greenough
October 27, 2015
Yes. Not able to do cyanitypes yet. I used an antique plate template in Silver Efex Pro. The idea of things disappearing is an interesting one. This is in fact exactly what is happening. I hope to bring a larger set of prints to the Thames Valley Meeting. Will be interested to see what people make of them.
Catherine
October 27, 2015
They are quite dreamlike and I think they fit your concept well – at least for the time being as I know how your projects develop as you explore them.
I know it’s different but I keep thinking of Young and Wilmotts’ sociological survey of Bethnal Green and redevelopment there – people being moved out of London to the Home Counties. Strange to think it was Michael Young who founded the OCA and here we both are!
Keith Greenough
October 27, 2015
Another interesting thought. From my perspective Bethnal Green these days seems an odd mixture of poor immigrants in social housing and relatively young and wealthy types in new build and refurbished properties. White British families seem few and far between.
You are right Michael Young has a lot to answer for.
jsumb
October 27, 2015
Pity I’ll miss the TV event as I’ll be on my way home from Glasgow. I like the idea of finding a process to fit the concept, surely the right way round. I had begun to think that you had decided on a process and tried to fit the concept to it!
The narrative will be interesting to nail down as it could develop in all sorts of directions. Looking forward to seeing how it develops.
Keith Greenough
October 27, 2015
Getting out and looking/photographing what is happening will determine how the narrative will evolve and with that how best to present the work. Good to be taking pictures again. Was a risk that I would be tempted to bend concept to process.
Carol Street
November 1, 2015
Following with interest as I’ve watched the City change and develop (not always for the better I must say) over a number of years. I do volunteer reading in a Tower Hamlets school once a week and I am always amazed at how the landscape (architectural, social and community) changes so radically on the short taxi journey from the City to TH.