JANINE WIEDEL High-Rise 1983 Part One

Description

JANINE WIEDEL High-Rise 1983 Part One

JANINE WIEDEL High-Rise 1983 Part One is a Café Royal Books publication.

High-Rise 1983 Part One published in 2022, is 14cm x 20cm and has 36 black and white pages. This is the first edition.

High-Rise 1983

This project was motivated by my interest in architecture and curiosity about it’s effect on people’s lives. I was living in Lambeth at the time and was always passing by two landmark 21-storey tower block buildings. I chose one of these to explore.

The block was built in the mid-1960s by the Greater London Council and by 1983 was administered by Lambeth Council. The main entrances into the building were permanently unlocked which made it possible for me just to walk in and take the elevator to different floors.

By pressing the button and getting off on different floors, I was able to meet a wide range of residents. Those who answered their door to me were very welcoming and pleased to be photographed and to talk about their lives. It was not an easy moment for many residents. Four years into Thatcher’s government, inner city boroughs like Lambeth bore the brunt of soaring unemployment, ideologically motivated attacks on council housing and dramatic cuts to council budgets. Rather than the optimism with which such buildings had been erected in the 1960s I mostly found a sense of isolation and alienation among residents.

It has taken nearly forty years for these photographs to come into the light of day. As such, it has not been possible to reconnect with those who I photographed and who welcomed me and gave me a glimpse into their lives at that specific moment. My thanks to them.

Janine Wiedel 2022

Published By Café Royal Books

Café Royal Books is an independent publishing house set up by Craig Atkinson in 2005. He is based in Southport, England. CRB release regular publications on the broad subject of British Documentary Photography since 1960. This includes international photographers who work within the British Isles. Alongside photographers from the British Isles who work internationally. There are a few exceptions, with titles that sit alongside this general theme.

This type of work has historically been neglected by both photographers and institutions. Café Royal Books aim is to source, gather, and re/present this work as a collective whole. And, thus, giving it a wider audience. CRB publishes at least one title every week, presenting one series by one photographer.

The books combine elements of zines, photobooks, artist books and educational resource. The books are affordable, democratic, utilitarian and useful. They come out regularly and in small editions. So, great to collect.

Have a look at the selection of Café Royal Books we have in stock.