Water-land is a series of

photographic essays about

Deptford Creek undertaken

by a group of Architecture BA

students from University of

Greenwich. Situated in an old

industrial area with a strong

maritime character, Deptford

Creek is a territory of contrasts:

between water and land,

between derelict warehouses

and new development.

As part of their teaching

assignment, the students were

asked to propose a series of

architectural and landscape

interventions within and

around the creek. They used

photography to discover latent

qualities in the site and to

investigate signs of human use

and occupation.



Experimenting with different

types of photographic film and

manual cameras, each student

constructed their own narrative

about the place. The images

record fragments of the area,

ranging from strangely familiar

objects, such as discarded

shoes or domestic items,

discovered in unusual settings,

to strong industrial structures.

Each one captures qualities

specific to the creek in colour

and movement, in moments

between the changing tides

of the river Thames and in the

marks of human habitation.



Ioana Marinescu comments:

‘It was extremely interesting

to work with this group of

students, who had in most

cases never used film and

manual cameras before, and

to see them work with the

limitations of the photographic

medium to construct very

clear stories about a place and

come up with some beautiful

and powerful images. We

helped them print these in

the darkroom, in order that

they understand and exploit

the creative ‘mistake’ that

can occur when you interact

directly with the materials,

in a process that is almost

alchemical. Together with

university colleagues,

Thomas Goodey and Naomi

Shaw, I encourage a craft-

like approach to teaching

architecture through the use

of photography, hand drawing

and model-making.’