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MAKING SENSE OF HISTORY VISUALISING LAYERED HISTORY

CITY LIMITS

The author Iain Sinclair is much known for his walks in London and

the surrounding areas, resulting in books such as London Orbital

and Hackney, That Rose-Red Empire: A Confidential Report.

Alongside Will Self, Sinclair is partly known as a psychogeographer

• which is an imaginative way of exploring urban space through
  walking through a particular territory. The books of both writers
  are an excellent place to start if you are interested in mixing history
  with observation and fact with the imagined.
  Plan a walk (or a drift as psychogeographers like to call it) around
  a historical area, as this example shows, but prime yourself with
  as much factual research as possible beforehand. Pre-loaded with
  such information and with ideas looking for a place to emerge,
  you’ll shoot your response in a completely different manner.

Reading the imaginative outpourings of psychogeographers

might also suggest an additional lens through which to see your

chosen subject, especially if you are interested in social history

or geography. Pick a place that has rich back history, but one

which is still visible and present today. This example shows the

Dot Motor Cycle works in Hulme, Manchester, a building that

survived slum clearance but nowadays stands isolated within

the developing city centre.

Look into your chosen subject and see if there are any

enthusiast groups or preservation societies that are connected –

they may have detailed local history research that you can dip

into to inform your work.

Navigating your way around the edgelands can be a tricky task,

as most are not designed for pedestrian access and many present

considerable barriers to your drift. Iain Sinclair’s inspirational

wander around the M25 is memorable for his navigation through

difficult terrain, lost space and peripheral tracts of private land

deemed out of bounds. Such space, however, can provide special

views of the city from a distance, framed by unexpected things,

as this example shows. Consider shooting the city from those

distant, empty places like an estuary shoreline or docklands

waiting for redevelopment. Look also at Andrew Kötting’s film

Swandown (with a cameo by Iain Sinclair), where he travels in

a swan pedalo from Hastings to London’s Olympic Park.

SECTION 2: DO THE DRIFT

For many writers, artists and photographers,

the edgelands provide a richly textured subject

worth experiencing and reimagining through walks.

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