Every good Briton remembers where they were on the 6th July 2005. At 12:46pm the word “London” was read aloud live to the world, generating a countrywide scream of joy as London won the bid to host the 2012 Olympic Games. It was a proud moment for everyone; the Olympic Games were coming to town, bringing momentous changes for the city along with them.

 

In 2011 East London was a shopping centre richer, and thanks to press coverage of the Olympics and its soon-to-be site, the world’s eye was on us. But was everything as idyllic as the media wanted us to believe?

Once an industrial wasteland, the regeneration of Stratford had been a prominent news topic; countless articles explained how the government would have never been able to afford the massive transformation of barren earth to lush, green living space if it was not for the Olympics.

 

The regeneration continued as part of the planned ‘Olympic Legacy’, creating the new ‘Stratford City’ metropolis in a former inner-city slum. Despite the billions being injected into the area, myself and many others believed that the government and press were highlighting the benefits of the new Stratford City, all while sweeping the underlying problems of the rest of the borough under the carpet.

 

Newham is known for its crime, bad education and poor quality of life. Stratford City was designed to be a beautiful new place to live, but transforming a single postcode doesn’t fix the entire borough; it’s merely a drop of water in a much larger pond. How can an area possibly be considered ‘up and coming’ when there are still buildings that are crumbling and weeds that need pulling?

 

The photos depict areas directly surrounding the Olympic park such as Stratford, West Ham and Hackney Wick and were all shot using HDR imaging.