Canary Wharf
Canary Wharf 1998 – 2004
My particular fascination with Canary Wharf was the privatisation and transformation of a neglected, abandoned landscape. This programme of regeneration, created a new corporate vista, juxtaposed against a natural environment, both constrained and wild. Modern concrete and steel redefined the dereliction and the land, and over time, the demographic. It was an era of extreme corporate greed and excess. The redevelopment of Docklands was a highly political project and impacted on all aspects of this part of London.
I worked at One Canada Square when it was the only tower block in Canary Wharf and only a handful of the 50 floors in the building were occupied. It was like nowhere I’d ever known and felt like being inside an architects’ model. It was beautiful, new, and shiny, but utterly lacking in soul, very much like the the rest of Canary Wharf. I set about taking one photograph per day on an old Rolleiflex camera, with black and white film – the antithesis of all encompassing newness around. A dialogue about nature and politics, land and money, community and commerce.