Views of a city: creating London's image

2011-14
Hard bound book with 66-printed colour and black and white single sided sheets binding.
Size: 17 x 12 inches

Views of a city: creating London’s image constitutes a singular artwork that acts as an archival collection of photographic recreations of 27 designated and protected views across London. These views, under the aegis of the London View Management Framework (LVMF), are a component of the Mayor of London’s London Plan. The LVMF forms part of the strategy to preserve London's character and built heritage. The document outlines the policy framework for managing the impact of proposed urban development within the scopal frame of 27 designated and protected views.

The desired 'image' of London expressed through the London Plan, and the LVMF views, is, on the one hand, the aesthetics of a past heritage of Empire and power as the heart of the British Empire inscribed into the very fabric of its buildings, and on the other, the aesthetics of a current and future neoliberal world city as expressed through its iconic tall corporate buildings, in order to attract and consolidate further capital. Both ‘images’ are the sites and sights of the London skyline that the Greater London Authority is attempting to coalesce into one within the LVMF policy guide.

Captured over a three year period between 2011 and 2014, Views of a city: creating London’s image photographically reproduces the 61 images that constitute the 27 designated and protected views. The work interrogates the political establishment’s choice of, and value set upon, these sanctioned views above and instead of, ‘other’ ways of encountering and viewing the city, their construction, how they operate, and their effects on London visitors and citizens alike.