METROPOLE by Lewis Bush
16/03/2015.
[LON] United Kingdom. 10.03 > 10.04.2015
metalocus, INÉS LALUETA
metalocus, INÉS LALUETA
Metropole was once a term used to describe London in its relationship with the British Empire, a relationship hierarchical and unequal, with power radiating out from the metropolitan centre, and the resources of the dominions radiating back in return.
Untitled, from Metropole (2015) by Lewis Bush.
Untitled, from Metropole (2015) by Lewis Bush.
Untitled, from Metropole (2015) by Lewis Bush.
Untitled, from Metropole (2015) by Lewis Bush.
Untitled, from Metropole (2015) by Lewis Bush.
Untitled, from Metropole (2015) by Lewis Bush.
Untitled, from Metropole (2015) by Lewis Bush.
Metropole is the result of dozens of walks taken through London, recording new construction sites and high rises. These structures typify the influx of capital and the development boom which has transformed large swathes of the city in recent years, in the process making London increasingly unequal, unaffordable, and unfamiliar for those who live here.
The decline of the national empires of the eighteenth and nineteenth century has given rise to a new global power, one which has centred itself on the site of old metropole. This is the power of global capital, a force which views everything it encounters in terms of a simple binary, of opportunity or obstacle. Metropole records the effect of this capital influx on London, the rapid transformation of swathes of the metropolis, and the sensation of feeling lost in a city one once regarded as home.
As the book progresses the dream-like photographs become increasingly confusing and nightmarish, warping into complex overlapping patterns reminiscent of the abstractions of Vorticist paintings, before finally coming to rest on the financial centre of the city, the dark heart driving this change.
Dates.- Exhibition, 10th March to 10 th April 2015.
Venue.- At the London Arts Board, corner of Peckham Road and Vestry Road, London, SE5. UK
A composite of dozens of walks through the city of London, exploring it’s changing architecture as metaphor for the economic malaise afflicting the city. Self-published 2015. Soft cover, 32 pages black and white on matt paper.
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LEWIS BUSH
Lewis Bush (London, 1988) studied history at the University of Warwick, and worked in public health before gaining a master’s degree in documentary photography from the London College of Communication, 2012. He has since gone on to produce numerous photographic projects, as well as curating, teaching and writing extensively about photography.
