The Isle of Dogs in the 1980s

Copyright © Mike Seaborne

Mike Seaborne introduces his 80sIslandPhotos site:

In 1983-6 I undertook an extensive photographic project on the Isle of Dogs in East London to document the area prior to its redevelopment. This involved not only photographing the streets and buildings but also inside factories, schools, community centres and other social spaces. 

The aim was to make a record of the Island before ‘big money’ moved in and transformed both the landscape and the people who lived and worked there. This project was undertaken in conjunction with the Island History Trust whose aim is to collect and interpret the history of the area for the benefit of both local people and anyone else with an interest in the area, past, present or future. 

During 2013, with the aid of a grant from the Heritage Lottery Fund, approximately 1500 photographs (all black & white) have been archivally printed, captioned and put into albums arranged by subject. These are available for viewing in person at Tower Hamlets Local History Library and Archives. 

However, the photographs have also been digitised and are presented on this website as a series of online galleries which reflect the physical albums in the collection.

All the photographs on the site are covered by a Creative Commons license. This means that they may be copied and used for non-commercial purposes provided they are correctly credited - as above - and are not altered or cropped.

Now over to Queenie Watts,,,