The Royal Photographic Society hosts an exhibition by Brian Steptoe FRPS, which chronicles the development of the London 2012 Olympic site. This photographic project covers the stages of work on the Olympic Park in East London from early 2007 to summer 2008. The site is 2.5 sq km in area and security fencing, painted in a distinctive cyan blue colour was erected in mid-2007. This fence became a source of sinister fascination for both locals and more distant visitors and is the prime subject of this exhibition, which covers now-obliterated locations as well as the fencing itself.

The fencing around the site for the London 2012 Olympics is at one level just a building site security fence. But at another level it represents compulsory expulsion from people’s homes, businesses, leisure spaces and allotments. Many consider it a break-up of local community life. Some 250 industrial buildings were demolished including numerous small businesses, three depots for London buses and two council traveller sites. Parts of the area consisted of contaminated land from heavy industrial use over the last century and much had become run-down in more recent times.

Brian Steptoe is a founder member of the RPS Contemporary Group. His photography is based on projects with a defined purpose. He was awarded the Fenton Medal and Honorary Membership of the Royal Photographic Society in October 2007.

An 80-page book with the same title accompanies the exhibition.

3 - 27 November 2008