‘Edgeland | Dnalegde’ exhibition, curated by Ben Rivers, examines the overlooked fringes of the urban London landscape. Edgeland is a journey of exploration into housing estates built post WWII in London.

Most of the sites photographed are perceived as “brutalist”, but in the eyes of the photographer the architecture provides the perfect foundation for light to intercept its cold, harsh structures creating shadows that are fragile, contrasting the permanent physicality of the constructions.

Photographed by artists Helena Crabtree and Flavia Dent, the images seek to expose the beauty in unseen places often deemed as toxic, by exploring the themes of Symmetry, Light & Shade in conjunction with Regeneration, Gentrification & Redevelopment. The results do not directly address the complicated issues that arise politically, due to the formal abstract tendencies of their visual language, but this does not mean that these issues are ignored.

The estates that they have focused on are Broadwater Farm, Alexandra Road Estate, Thamesmead and Woodberry Down, all of which have a different story to tell. The architectural structures’ concrete weight sitting on London soil, provides thousands of homes but divides many. Thamesmead was the furthest they traveled to and the most isolated, yet Woodberry Down was on their doorstep and they barely knew it existed.

What this on-going project has made Crabtree and Dent realize is that they must stop, look, see and engage with their surroundings, and they invite you to do the same. Edgeland | Dnalegde is on show until November 5th at the Rough Print Gallery in London.