on Saturday I visited the other side of Limehouse, around the marina, the part that used to be named the Regents Canal dock, where the timber yards used to be (now Limehouse Basin). the place has been massively developed, stylish and expensive. No trace of the old times. Also visited St Annes church which was open because an art exhibition was on. Apparently it is usually closed due to some unsavoury activities in the area.
Anyway got talking to a guy there, Stuart Currie, who was interested in my project. He works at Departure, (www.depart.in) a community arts centre run by the London City Mission in Limehouse, and thought that they might be interested in exhibiting my work, as the project is based in this locale, so I made what might be a useful contact.
I took some more test shots, and think it is probably time to stop testing and commit! I find I have started taking photos under bridges, and think my bridge obsession may be making a comeback. Is this a good thing or not?
I think I am getting too bogged down in the authenticity of the locations and connections between places. I seem to be spending too much time poring over maps, rather than photographing, looking for the tiniest of clues which might give me… well basically whatever it is I am looking for.
I have however spotted something I had not noticed before. I had wondered why jonas had moved from Spitalfields to Limehouse and then stayed there for more than 50 years, then I noticed that to one side of Regents Canal Dock was all timber merchants and saw mills. As a wood cutter/chopper its makes sense now that he was here, but I haven't looked at that part of limehouse at all. That is my next step, although I know that this area has been massively redeveloped, but I need to check it out anyway, once I have finally shaken off the flu that I have had for the last week.
I also want to go to the Island History Society in the Isle of Dogs and look at their old photo library.
I had been thinking of combining two negatives but am wondering whether this is a bit pointless, will the detail I gain from using large format be lost by printing two negs together?
I am also thinking about using a photograph of a document as the second image, say combining an image of a place with an image of the census for that place. hmm not sure if this is too contrived…..
I have decided to use this blog to record the progress of my final photographic project, working title – tracing the past.
Subject to tutors approval I am planning two sets of images. One set, documentary, will be taken in Tower Hamlets Archive, and looks at the archive itself, its staff and researchers of Family history, people on a quest for clues to their own history, trying to complete a very personal jigsaw puzzle. The second set of images, narrative, trace a fictitious journey made by one of my own long dead relatives, between his home in Limehouse and Victoria Park.
