Text by Bridget Coaker
Recently selected for the Mostyn Open 2011, exhibited at The Photographer's Gallery 2008 and one of the winning series for the 2008 Magenta Flash Forward Awards, "Manor Garden Allotments", is a visual memorial to the gardens that were demolished to make way for the 2012 London Olympics. Interested in the effect such large scale construction projects have on an area and its residents, Jan Stradtmann saw the eviction of the allotment holders as symbolic of the disruption and often life-changing consequences that emanate from regeneration schemes. Disconnected from the city on a small island in the East End of London, the Manor Garden Allotments were a collection of 80 garden plots, tended by local families, many of whom had worked on the small plots of land since the 1920s. In October 2007 they were demolished to make way for the 2012 Olympics. Shooting at night and influenced by the flash photography of Weegee's famous crime images, Stradtmann selected the garden sheds as his objects of evidence. Standing proud against the night sky and pregnant with the history of their owners, each shed becomes a character in Stradtmann's story. With their individual designs and use of ad hoc recycled materials they are all different, bringing into visual relief each of the allotment gardeners' own personalities. Curtains at the windows and numbers on the doors remind us that once there was a human spirit associated with these places.
Photographs from this series are available as limited edition prints from Troika Editions, London.
Troika Editions
The Photographers Gallery
Seven Seven Contemporary Art
Manor Garden Allotments
