WorkPhotography

The Isle of Dogs: discover a rare documentation of London's Docklands before the big money

Now home to financial heavyweights and epic skyscapers, the Isle of Dogs was once the beating heart of industrial East London. In the early 1980s, Mike Seaborne began documenting the area’s social fabric, taking his camera around the streets and inside remaining working factories and businesses.

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All images courtesy of the artist and Hoxton Mini Press. Via Creative Boom submission.

All images courtesy of the artist and Hoxton Mini Press. Via Creative Boom submission.

These photographs, taken between 1982 and 1987, show the island on the cusp of huge development. We see first sightings of the Docklands Light Railway construction from Tower Gateway to Island Gardens, workers in (now demolished) factories on their tea breaks, children paddling in the Thames.

Seaborne captured the spirit of a close-knit community, one that soon changed forever when the big money moved in.

The Isle of Dogs is a new book, published by Hoxton Mini Press, that will launch at Cafe Vert, George Green’s School, E14 3DW on Thursday 18 October. An exhibition of the work will go on display there from 18-26 October.

Mike Seaborne has been photographing London since 1979. He was Senior Curator of Photographs at the Museum of London until 2011 and now focuses on personal photographic projects.

Children and adults paddle in the Thames with industrial dockland buildings and cranes visible across the water in black and white
A person cycling away from a Victorian building on a wet street, with street lamps and the Docklands Light Railway construction visible in the distance on the Isle of Dogs, 1980s
Two children play on a residential street in the Isle of Dogs during the early 1980s, with brick terraced houses and a parked car visible behind them
A group of people queue on a street in 1980s Isle of Dogs, with women in coats and headscarves waiting beside parked cars and buildings
A spares shop with corrugated iron fencing advertising "All makes of spares open six days a week", with dockyard cranes visible behind it in 1980s Isle of Dogs
Shopfront of Solarium and Geejay's businesses on Isle of Dogs with people sitting outside, black and white photograph from early 1980s
Two people sit on a bench on a snowy beach overlooking the Thames, with industrial buildings visible across the water in 1980s Isle of Dogs
Man leaning over a brick wall on a rooftop in the Isle of Dogs, with high-rise buildings visible across the industrial landscape beyond
Black and white photograph of a community mural on the Isle of Dogs warning about gentrification, featuring images of money, industrial machinery and a cityscape skyline
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