My Photographs

I first photographed the Lee Navigation in the early 1980s, when a few commercial barges were still in use. Within months they had gone.

It was also a time when many of the larger manufacturing industries which had occupied the Lea Valley were closing down, as Thatcher closed down our productive base and shifted decisively towards the UK as a service economy. At times I very much felt I was recording a post-industrial wasteland.

Since then, I've returned to the Lea Valley and photographed it again at some depth at roughly ten year intervals. I've worked in both black and white and colour, and, more recently using panoramic cameras and, in the past few years working with digital.

With the redevelopment of the lower Lea Valley to accomodate the needs of the 2012 London Olympics, much of the unique nature of the area and its rivers is likely to be lost, covered in acres of concrete and much of the smaller rivers encased in conduits. The current time seems a particularly important one to record.

more black and white pictures

Picture sections

1980s: b/w  colour

1990s (to follow)

2000+ colour

Index by Location (to follow)

All photographs on this site are
© 1980-2010 Peter Marshall.

Pictures are available for commercial use - please email me, for terms.

Permission is normally granted for suitable non-commercial use without cost - please email the above address. I also welcome comments and questions about the work.


29t25: Barges moored next to Bow flyover, October, 1981

29t26


29t53 Bromley By Bow, 1981
29t54 Bromley By Bow, 1981

29t63: Bromley by Bow

29t65: Bromley by Bow, 1981


32f61: Pura Foods, Bow Creek

32f61: Pura Foods, Bow Creek


32f53: Bow Creek, 1982

32f14: Canning Town

more pictures
 
 

 

All pictures © 1970-2005, Peter Marshall.
Contact Peter Marshall for permission for use, high res files and fees.

The River Lea

London's Second River

The River Lea (or Lee) from source to mouth