ROYAL IRIS, THE THAMES BARRIER AND THE GATE DARKROOM
London Archive Chronicles

Milo was with me on this walk by the Thames. It was a steely grey-blue day. There were gusts of wind but it was surprisingly warm. Milo was intrigued, if not startled, by the waves and was in other ways also a bit restless. He protested when I stopped to take a photograph. He sat down when I asked him to but whined and grunted, as if he was speaking to me. His sentiments were loud and clear: I was taking too long composing and considering the photographs. I know that according to some schools of thought this kind of behaviour in a dog rude and unacceptable but I found it amusing. I love that boy. Let him speak his mind.  
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Across the image is the Thames Barrier. In operation since 1982, it is one of the largest movable flood barriers in the world. It is run and maintained by the Environment Agency who receive information about potential tidal surges from weather satellites and ships, coastal stations and oil rigs. This data is continuously being fed to the control room. Therefore, the decision to close, or not to close, the barrier is guided by a complex mathematical matrix that considers the river flow, tide and surge at the time but is ultimately made by the controller on duty. The barrier has been closed 205 times in the past 40 years it has been operational of which an overwhelming majority has been in the last ten years.  

I am a big fan of Victorian engineering and their apparatuses, not only because what they achieved but because as they are beautiful as objects. I admit that I am nostalgic for something I haven’t ever seen or experienced I was, therefore, pleased to realise that I am quite in awe of this 40-year-old engineering feat. So much so that I have made a note of when it is next closed as a test - they do it once a month- to make sure that I can be there to see it.  

After reading and watching a few videos about the Thames Barrier, I feel that I haven’t appreciated it nearly as much as I should have, especially now that I live in a ground floor maisonette in Greenwich, relatively close to the Thames.  A few months ago, we got a leaflet from the Mayor of London informing us about the possibility of flash floods and how we ought to prepare for them. I have an odd feeling that I will have a keen interest in Thames Estuary 2100 plans, in which the Thames Barrier plays a crucial part, in the future. 

There is the Thames Barrier, there are the ominous clouds, but still, the focal point of this photograph is the ship, Royal Iris. It is why I took the image. I had first tried to compose the image from the bridge adjacent the Thames Barrier, from the front of the ship but thought it noisy visually. 
MV Royal Iris was launched in 1950 as a passenger vessel on the River Mersey which flows past Liverpool. Onboard it had a dancefloor and stage, tea room, buffet, cocktail bar and even a fish and chip saloon. Royal Iris has carried many notable passengers, including the late Queen Elizabeth II and Duke of Edinburgh in 1977. In the 1960’s, many acts of the Merseybeat scene played on the ship, including the Beatles and Gerry and the Pacemakers. 
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The ship was taken out of service in 1991. There were plans to turn it into a floating nightclub but none of them materialised. It was moved to its current location on the River Thames in 2002 where its condition has deteriorated.  

I walk past the Royal Iris on my way to the Gate Darkroom which I recently joined. I have wanted to work with black and white photographs for a while now. I love everything about it, the grain, the monochrome shades and what I call the ‘smudge’, the slightly out-of-focus, soft areas in the image. I love working in the darkroom, with the tangible negatives and photographic paper, the possibilities within the limitations of the whole process and its meditative slowness. Like many photographers, I never get tired of seeing the moment when the image first appears on the photographic paper. It feels like magic, as cliché as it sounds. 
 
So far I have been printing from so-called old negatives. In the past six years when I have been working on the London Archive, I have also taken lots of other photographs without any project or theme in mind. They are like raw material; I will find out what they are and what will become of them by working on them in the darkroom. 

I haven’t really sought the company of other artists since graduating from Art School for various reasons. For one, I felt the need to develop my own voice, find my own language, in contrast to ‘art speak’. I now feel differently about the Art World. I have begun to see art as an alternative way or an escape, not only as the absurd game as the Art World undoubtedly still is. I have only met a few of the Gate members but it has been great to be around other photographers, to talk about even the trivial things about analogue photography. I had missed it.  

They just had an excellent exhibition at the studio Thames-Side Studios Gallery. Not only was the show inspiring and exciting, the gallery is dog-friendly. I was able to pick up my Chief Photography Assistant, Milo, and take him along with me to the private view. After seeing the show, my friends and I went to see the sunset by the river. I lifted Milo to sit on the wall and we all watched the sun go down behind Royal Iris. 

​(Originally published 06.10.2022)

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© Carita Silander

SOURCES AND FURTHER READING:
https://www.gov.uk/guidance/the-thames-barrier 
London, UK--Building The Thames Barrier Documentary 1980s Pt 1 of 3 
How the Thames Barrier protects London from flooding. 
https://www.ianvisits.co.uk/articles/the-mersey-ferry-rusting-away-on-the-thames-36783/ 
​https://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/news/liverpool-news/gallery/much-loved-former-mersey-ferry-22830778 
https://www.thegatedarkroom.co.uk ​

Through the lens shots from this walk with Milo