London Archived

MEDIA ‘London Archived’

Leander Walters, a Year Twelve pupil in Wargrave House, recently displayed seventeen of his photographs in the foyer of the JWA building. This exhibition was called ‘London Archived’.

Leander created the exhibition as part of his Skills Development Plan for Gold Arts Award. This qualification is open to young people aged 11 to 25, and once completed is worth sixteen points (the equivalent of half an A-Level) on the UCAS tariff.

Each of the photographs was taken somewhere in London, with the locations varying from Covent Garden to Chinatown to Shoreditch. I found that all of the shots had a slightly dark, dangerous ambience to them, conveying a side of London that you wouldn’t find on a postcard. This was part of their appeal for me.

interested! So I went with him to walk around the exhibition on the 2nd of February (it was taken down on the 11th), and asked him a few questions.

How did you get into photography and when?

‘The mixture of policemen and members of the public in this Jewish bakery in east London, Shoreditch reminds us that law enforcement aren’t just separate from us, they too go about their daily lives like you and I.’

When I found out that Leander was running this exhibition as a Maths, French and Geography A-Level pupil (and not doing photography), I was I got into it about a year ago, when I was looking at old pictures my grandad had from family holidays. I started asking questions, and I became fascinated by the process of film. One day when I visited he gave me a point and shoot camera, which is what I shot my first roll on. And I just loved it. You have to focus a lot on the composition you make; every shot matters more. You want the roll to come out well, so you end up becoming more aware of your surroundings. And then I developed the skill by watching videos about film compositions from the 80s, reading the Kodak books, and just taking photos!

MEDIA

Do you have any opinions on the current resurgence of disposable film cameras?

I think it’s great! You could argue that disposable cameras have economic and environmental downsides… But they’re easy to use, and they’re allowing people to enjoy the more tactile experience that film has to offer. It is the wait for the picture that makes it so special.

‘The rich grey scale and the uninviting back alley Chinatown setting compliments the mysterious nature of the subject who has their identity masked and back turned showing little to no emotion or care.’

What type of film did you use?

The main film I used was the Ilford Delta 3200, or the black and white one. However, I also used Fuji film C200, a bog-standard commercial film, and Lamography Metropolis which helped to create the dim, urban, sombre look.

Tell me about your process in creating your compositions…

There’s no set way that I do it. I like to go to a location which provides inspiration for me. And then the way that the weather and the light changes, the way people move around, this will all influence the final composition. But I don’t go out with a set theme in my head. I see what happens. Sometimes, I’ll shoot barely anything, sometimes I’ll shoot a lot. I don’t like to feel restricted.

‘The plumes of steam and copious amount of machinery used to make the bagels in the Shoreditch deli cleverly capture the frantic element of a kitchen which feeds hundreds by the hour.‘