Thursday 22 June 2023

Gainsborough Studios


Shoreditch Park, Hackney, is a London park near the Regent's Canal, which hereabouts is the boundary between the boroughs of Islington and Hackney. I imagine that many people using the park wonder why the word "Gainsborough" is spread along the top of a block of flats, and what the rusted metal sculptures in the park signify. The fact is that the block of flats incorporated parts of what was once Gainsborough Studios, a British film studio that produced movies from 1924 to 1951. The studio buildings were not purpose-built: prior to their use for films they were a power station for the Great Northern & City Railway. Alfred Hitchcock did his first work in movies at Gainsborough Studios. That large circular sculpture is, I imagine, based on a film reel.

photo © T. Boughen     Camera: Nikon Z 5