Outer Capital is an exhibition selected from images made by a collaborative photography project by Vicinity, a collective of ten documentary photographers based in London with both local and international roots. Vicinity came together organically - through photographic institutions and venues across the city and turned those encounters into a long-term collaboration: monthly walks, each dedicated to one of the twenty Outer London boroughs which were created when the London Government Act of 1963 redrew the capital's map producing a new boundary that has shaped the city ever since. Over 60% of the population of Greater London lives within the Outer Boroughs, which provide 42% of the total employment within the Capital.
Over two years, Vicinity worked their way through all these boroughs, photographing high streets, shopping centres, car parks, markets, estates and parks. Each walk drew on the group's differing practices and perspectives, building a collective portrait of places rarely pictured in our shared idea of London.
The resulting photographs hold ordinary routines, chance encounters, odd details, fleeting moments - the contrasts and continuities of life beyond the centre. Outer London is often treated as peripheral, yet it is essential to the capital's identity: twenty boroughs, each with its own rhythm, character and community, together forming as much of London as anything within the old county boundary. Outer Capital treats that diversity as the subject, rather than the backdrop.
This exhibition is staged as a journey through these places. Visitors can follow the group’s routes, take detours, and find lesser-known corners and unexpected details along the way. There is no prescribed path, only room for curiosity and chance, echoing the walks themselves.
Exhibiting photographers: Wei Jian Chan, Sally Itani, Chanelle Joseph, Sergey Novikov, Sophie Polyviou, Nick Sheridan, Anya Shilonos, Marianna Silvano, Miguel Souto, Ed Taylor
Curator: Katy Barron
Over two years, Vicinity worked their way through all these boroughs, photographing high streets, shopping centres, car parks, markets, estates and parks. Each walk drew on the group's differing practices and perspectives, building a collective portrait of places rarely pictured in our shared idea of London.
The resulting photographs hold ordinary routines, chance encounters, odd details, fleeting moments - the contrasts and continuities of life beyond the centre. Outer London is often treated as peripheral, yet it is essential to the capital's identity: twenty boroughs, each with its own rhythm, character and community, together forming as much of London as anything within the old county boundary. Outer Capital treats that diversity as the subject, rather than the backdrop.
This exhibition is staged as a journey through these places. Visitors can follow the group’s routes, take detours, and find lesser-known corners and unexpected details along the way. There is no prescribed path, only room for curiosity and chance, echoing the walks themselves.
Exhibiting photographers: Wei Jian Chan, Sally Itani, Chanelle Joseph, Sergey Novikov, Sophie Polyviou, Nick Sheridan, Anya Shilonos, Marianna Silvano, Miguel Souto, Ed Taylor
Curator: Katy Barron
