After I finished my three year photographay course in Nottingham back in the early 80's I stayed around. There was stuff to shoot - the huge 60's concrete council estates that were about to be pulled down (Nottingham Council are still paying for the building costs for them) were open for a while. The one near me at Old Basford was eventually fenced off but that took some time as they were such large sites and so I sometimes would have a look around with my Yashicamat twins lens medium format camera (which had lost the capability of focussing properly after hitting the ground) and generally explore the carnage. There were signs of devastation everywhere - from the people who had trashed their homes before leaving and from random strangers scouring the estates for possible valuable possessions left behind - and smashing up places in the process. While shooting I'd often hear things being torn apart or heavy objects being sent crashing several floors to the ground from the balconies. The sound of that and windows shattering used to remind me of Joy Division tracks, from Unknown Pleasures. It was fantastic.
Kidbrook in South East London is not my terrirtory but on recent visits to the area I've sneaked in under gates or over fences to get a look at the post-demolition work on similar estates. It's a huge area and it will be a couple of years I expect till it has all been flattened and the new privately owned homes start to be built on the site.
Kidbrook in South East London is not my terrirtory but on recent visits to the area I've sneaked in under gates or over fences to get a look at the post-demolition work on similar estates. It's a huge area and it will be a couple of years I expect till it has all been flattened and the new privately owned homes start to be built on the site.
