Photographer Alan Williams was invited by DLR to undertake the first commission for the new Public Arts Programme, DLR Art. The commission marked the launch of the Docklands Light Railway Public Arts Strategy in July 2007, and was celebrated with an event and exhibition held at The Wapping Project in East London.
Alan was invited to respond to the Docklands Light Railway through the medium of photography, developing a series of images that might reveal, represent or illuminate the unique qualities of the DLR, its location and surrounding communities.
The act of travelling is a particular experience, and the DLR has singular qualities that distinguish it from other London train systems. For the majority of the network it rises above the landscape of the area, its elevated viewpoint allowing passengers an insight into the topography of the area, with particular sightlines made possible from the vantage point of the moving train. This act of travelling is further enhanced by the anticipated or remembered journey as a mental map of its shifting landscapes - a linear filmic experience of buildings and waterscapes and of people within the train.
Alan Williams' starting point was this journey:
'Imagine that you are travelling on the DLR, looking out of the window, and you see a house, an office, a factory or any other building. Do you ever ask yourself 'I wonder what goes on there?' or 'Who lives there?'
Sidetrack is a journey along the route of the DLR, the images capturing both the ordinary and the unexpected in views of everyday life, allowing us to enter buildings and landmarks that we may only glimpse from inside the train as we travel.
It is a journey which takes us inside the iconic architecture of London's industrial and cultural heritage: from the Victorian grandeur of Joseph Bazalgette's Abbey Mills Pumping station, to the cavernous interior of Tate & Lyle's refinery with its landscape of raw sugar awaiting purification. Moving to the buildings in which we live, work and rest, we join Daniel, gardener at The Fan Museum, breaking his working day for tea in the refined setting of The Orangery; Rocky Dean training at the Peacock Gym in Canning Town; or Diplomat, resting in The Metropolitan Police's working stables at Bow Road. Alan's images allow us access to a city that is sometimes unexpected, always changing.
Selected images from the series were developed as posters, appearing on stations and inside trains throughout the network during July and August 2007. The series of images appear collectively for the first time on the website.
The artist and DLR would like to thank the individuals and organisations who have assisted in the realisation of this commission: The Wapping Project, Tate & Lyle PLC, The Metropolitan Police, The Peacock Gym, The Fan Museum, The Greenwich Foundation, Abbey Mills Pumping Station, Thames Water, Locality Unlimited, The New Wine Church, Wilton's Music Hall, Bronze Age Fine Art Foundry, The Warwick Leadley Gallery, HSBC, Trinity Buoy Wharf, Urban Space Management, The Ramgarhia Sikh Association, Tom and Doll Bolton, Dennis and Cathy James, and the DLR Ambassadors.
