A photographic exhibition by Homer Sykes, recording the site of the Olympic Park in 2006-2007
The Blue Wall was the surrounding wall that was erected to prevent access to the Olympic site in 2007. Photographs were taken from soon after the successful bid, known as “The Bid” was announced in 2006 up until the Blue Wall went up in 2007. No photographer was allowed inside the area from this moment on.
In 2006, searching again to record for posterity a neglected moment in time, Homer made it his personal project to explore the future site of the Olympic Park – soon to be encircled by a barrage of hype… and by the anonymous and blandly forbidding Blue Wall. There he discovered a curious mix of wildflower meadows alongside neglected sports fields, semi-derelict 19th c industrial buildings sprawling cheek by jowl with unidentifiable dwellings cloaked in ivy – an almost rural atmosphere emanating against all odds from the urban blight – as evidenced too by a pair of pensioners peaceably fishing side by side. These simpler times will not come again. They were… Before the Blue Wall.
The exhibition will be open
from July 12-July 25 2012, Mon-Sat 10am-6pm