Londons – The Polycentric City

The Polycentric City

Mass Journal 01

This issue presents Londons, the first long term collective project conceived and curated by Mass Collective. Started from the desire to explore a common subject matter through a plurality of points of view, it documents the changing face of our city offering a snapshot of what is London in 2021.

Mass Collective invited a selected group of photographers to explore an area of their choice and bring their personal interpretation to it. The result is a collection of projects that stand out for their individuality but work as collective research into the changes that our city is undergoing.

This self-published zine has been produced to complement the work on show at the first Mass' Collective exhibition.

Photographs: Sue Barr, Caroline Charrel, Simon Kennedy, Andrew Meredith, Luca Piffaretti, Francesco Russo, Polly Tootal, Henry Woide

Words: Diane Smyth

Design: Stanley James Press

Specifications:

• First edition of 200

• 52pp - 130 gsm silk paper

• Multi-layered triple cover - 135 gsm uncoated paper

• Size A5 (148 x 210 mm)

• Staple bound

To know more details about this zine see the Buyer Guide.

* Zines ship separately from all other items within the same order.

London, UK, 2021
by Luca Piffaretti

Among the many new developments rising along the River Lea there seems to be a fashion for coloured schemes. Just before the Lea ends its run into the Thames, the City Island neighbourhood stands out with its blue, red and yellow towers. A bit further north towards Stratford, Sugar House Island present similar multi-coloured blocks, this time following a more muted palette. At first glance, they look like cardboard movie sets, with the empty streets enhancing the cinematographic feel of the scenery. This photograph is part of the series Sugarcoated Island exploring the transformation of the Lea from an industrialised river to an attractive location for new and functional residential neighbourhoods.

Specifications:

• Size 18x24″ open edition

• Digital print on 189 gsm matt paper

• Giclée print quality

• Unframed

To know more details about this print see the Buyer Guide.

* Posters ship separately from all other items within the same order.

London, UK, 2021
by Henry Woide

In Greater London's Green Belt, where land is protected, infrastructure still exists. Scaffolding is a precursor to urban growth. It signifies a space to be constructed, owned and contained. In the image, part of the series Road to Nowhere, the attention is drawn by the stark artificial intervention in the landscape highlighted by vivid abstract colour.

Specifications:

• Size 18x24″ open edition

• Digital print on 189 gsm matt paper

• Giclée print quality

• Unframed

To know more details about this print see the Buyer Guide.

* Posters ship separately from all other items within the same order.

London, UK, 2021
by Andrew Meredith

The Westway route intertwines West London unveiling a dense landscape with stark contrasts between wealth and poverty. It’s a landscape that’s not really visible when speeding past in a car. Part of the series Walking the Westway, this photograph was taken just after the starting point of the journey at the Wood Lane elevated section in the West. The Westway splits the image in half highlighting the dual nature of the place: above huge repetitive patterns of the apartment developments and construction cranes rise into the mist. Below the ramshackle and dangerous junkyards next to the travellers' site beneath the Westway utilise every tiny space afforded to them.

Specifications:

• Size 18x24″ open edition

• Digital print on 189 gsm matt paper

• Giclée print quality

• Unframed

To know more details about this print see the Buyer Guide.

* Posters ship separately from all other items within the same order.

London, UK, 2021
by Francesco Russo

Nine Elms, South West London was once a bustling industrial area but is being rapidly transformed into a high density modern centre dotted by imposing high-rise developments. The contrast between the Victorian brick terraces and monumental new constructions is shot in quiet night scenes, which give a sense of the silent but relentless evolution of the neighbourhood. The lights of the construction sites reflect on the bare concrete structures, giving them an otherworldly quality and the sense that they could be extra-terrestrial objects, landing in and populating the riverside area between Vauxhall and Battersea.

Specifications:

• Size 18x24″ open edition

• Digital print on 189 gsm matt paper

• Giclée print quality

• Unframed

To know more details about this print see the Buyer Guide.

* Posters ship separately from all other items within the same order.

London, UK, 2021
by Polly Tootal

The series True Fictions from an Unreal City focuses on the symbols of declining industries, radical transformations of urban development and infrastructural systems that are fundamental to serving a city. Capturing these diametrically opposed landscapes through the imagery of vistas, structures and materiality, the project investigates the nature of the periphery. It is a world that exists on the outskirts and fringes of what we associate as place, where alienation and control rule. This project attempts to place the viewer in ambiguous relation to the subject, deliberately using unspecific locations to conjure unsettling anxieties, hinting towards a dystopian future and showing our fragile contemporary condition.

Specifications:

• Size 18x24″ open edition

• Digital print on 189 gsm matt paper

• Giclée print quality

• Unframed

To know more details about this print see the Buyer Guide.

* Posters ship separately from all other items within the same order.

Croydon, UK, 2021
by Sue Barr

This photograph from the series Croydon – Motor City explores the complex and disorientating spaces of the multi-storey car park in Croydon, South London. Navigation is precisely controlled; the driver moves between bright light and deep shadow in moments, whilst being subjected to a visual cacophony of signs and spatial demarcations.

Specifications:

• Size 18x24″ open edition

• Digital print on 189 gsm matt paper

• Giclée print quality

• Unframed

To know more details about this print see the Buyer Guide.

* Posters ship separately from all other items within the same order.

Kingston upon Thames, UK, 2021
by Caroline Charrel

Sarsen stone block, listed as Grade I. Recovered from the ruins of the Chapel of St Mary in Kingston upon Thames, which collapsed in 1730, this block is believed to have been used as the 'coronation stone' for seven Anglo-Saxon kings during the 10th century. Though limited evidence exists to support this folklore, the stone remains a centrepiece of the town. It stands to watch over the Hogsmill River and before the Guildhall building in central Kingston, placed on a carved granite plinth that bears the names of the old English kings linked with it. The presentation of the photograph aims to detach the stone from its mythology and display it as the piece of mineral it essentially is.

Specifications:

• Size 18x24″ open edition

• Digital print on 189 gsm matt paper

• Giclée print quality

• Unframed

To know more details about this print see the Buyer Guide.

* Posters ship separately from all other items within the same order.

London, UK, 2021
by Simon Kennedy

This image shows Brentford Ait from the banks of Waterman’s Park. Once home to a thriving pub the Ait is now a wildlife sanctuary with an impressive heron population, and access is forbidden. At low tide layers of previous activities and occupations are revealed. The photo is part of Hyenas and Hippopotami a series documenting locations along the Thames and the River Brent where past and present histories are simultaneously evident, and where the struggle with modernisation is revealed.

Specifications:

• Size 18x24″ open edition

• Digital print on 189 gsm matt paper

• Giclée print quality

• Unframed

To know more details about this print see the Buyer Guide.

* Posters ship separately from all other items within the same order.