Painted Deserts: Changing London landscape

SPACE, London, 3 May – 16 June 2007

Painted Deserts is a photographic exploration that responds to the momentous changes taking place within the London Olympic area, aiming to document the changing geographical, emotional and metaphorical landscape of an area which will soon be closed to the local community and remains at the centre of much controversy.

Since 2003 Artist Photographers Caroline Christie and Bobby Lloyd have attempted to mark the ongoing process of change affecting the local landscape, infrastructure and communities of the Lower Lea valley area. These changes have arisen as a result of local regeneration and the Olympic bid, as well as the 2004 MOMART warehouse fire. Christie & Lloyd have photographed the clearing of these sites and their rebuilding.

Christie and Lloyd began working together out of a shared curiosity for a changeable territory. This resonated with their independent experiences of working within other unpredictable urban contexts outside of the UK. These include post-conflict zones such as Bosnia, Kosovo and Afghanistan. From 2004 they have collaborated under the name of On Site Arts, a non profit organisation that works through photography.

On Site Arts is exploring the crossover between different models of photographic practice and the way in which individual photographers can traverse a range of settings and agendas whilst maintaining their integrity. By placing images within arts and public settings, the media, the voluntary sector and governmental organisations, On Site Arts also aims to contribute to local and wider cultural, economic, social and political discourses. To date they continue to work with those communities due to be relocated as a result of the Olympic building programme in East London.

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