Hackney By Night: Eerie and unexpectedly beautiful photographs of London at night

London photographer David George’s Hackney By Night series reveals the unexpected pastoral beauty of London in the dead of the night. The elegiac photographs, which were shot specifically for a new book (of the same name) over 12 months, show the pathways, back streets, canal towpaths, disused buildings, dark waterways, parks and underpasses that stand silent as most of us lie asleep.

Using starlight and lamplight, places and scenes that might otherwise appear familiar are rendered hyper-real. Here is a stillness and beauty that might surprise those of us who are exhausted by our busy lives in the city.

Alongside the book's images is a short story by writer and journalist Karen Falconer, taking the reader on a parallel journey into the night of a narrator’s memory. The subtle and often unexplained words infuse each shot with a disquiet and a subtle sense of loss. Hackney takes on two faces, one of tranquillity and beauty and one that hints of a menacing netherworld.

David George has been a photographer for over 35 years and lives and works in East London. His work examines social and political narratives to be found in British man-altered landscape. Discover more about George at www.davidgeorge.eu or buy the new book over at Hoxton Mini Press.

Via direct submission

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