Exhibition Preview: After You've Gone, East End Shopfronts 1988

Lindsey
By Lindsey Last edited 142 months ago
Exhibition Preview: After You've Gone, East End Shopfronts 1988
Walters man's shop Mile End Rd by Alan Dein
Walters man's shop Mile End Rd by Alan Dein
Lipman kosher butcher's, Hessel St by Alan Dein
Lipman kosher butcher's, Hessel St by Alan Dein

Photographs of decaying East End shopfronts go on show for the first time this week in Tower Hamlets.

Fans of derelict London, old signs and local history will love these photos taken by Alan Dein, an oral historian and broadcaster, who lived in Stepney in 1988 and decided to capture these retail relics on film before they vanished. As he says,

In 1988 these ex-shops didn’t have long left. Long after the interiors had turned to dust, what you see are pretty much their last appearances on earth.

His collection of 250 photographs have been digitised and added to Tower Hamlets' history library’s collections. A selection of them will be on display alongside contextual material from the archives and contemporary images of the buildings today.

Members of the public are invited to attend the exhibition launch on Thursday 17 May, from 6-8pm. Please RSVP to localhistory@towerhamlets.gov.uk to book your place.

After You've Gone: East End Shopfronts 1988 by Alan Dein opens on Thursday 17 May at the Tower Hamlets Local History Library & Archives, 277 Bancroft Road E1 4QD. Admission free.

Last Updated 15 May 2012