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The Landscapes of Electricity

30 images Created 20 Nov 2008

"Crossing English landscapes from the south coast to the capital, 542 pylons carrying 40,000 electric kilovolts cross housing estates and a wildlife sanctuary to reach power-hungry consumers of London's West End."

These 30 images come from the book The Pleasures and Sorrows of Work by Alain de Botton, published by Penguin in April 2009.

This gallery is part of a short series relating to this book, though their titles have in some cases been adapted for this archive. They are viewed here as a showcase but will be released for sale on the 1st April 2009 at Photoshelter and Alamy or exclusively at CORBIS and therefore each file has its own restrictions which can be read within its metadata.

The book pictures are reproduced in black and white but all appear here in colour.

A blog story about the project's photography is here:
http://wp.me/p3fbj-4j

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  • As evening light fades, bright light from the electricity-hungry Canary Wharf docklands development is supplied by the voltage from electricity cables and supporting struts at an east London sub-station, England. A network of 110 miles of cables have stretched across 542 'L6' pylons across England's Kent countryside, from the coal-fired power station at Dungeness to this location, carrying 40,000 Volts along this network of aluminium cables to power some of London's high supply demands. Insatiable appetites for energy means electricity is now an expensive commodity after climbing oil prices doubled electricity utility bills for some domestic users.
    electricity278-22-01-2008 .jpg
  • Patriotic pensioner Ivor Dowling attaches the Welsh flag beneath the Union Jack to fly in his back Somerset garden.
    electricity002-27-12-2007 .jpg
  • An adult business window displays the naughty underwear worn by five mannequin models of a Soho sex shop on Old Compton Street in London's West End. Tilted slightly to the left, we see the 5 models posing in various positions of suggestive stances, all demonstrating the shop's array of erotic clothing for the Good Time Girl! On the far right is the artwork of a topless woman, wearing only knee-length stockings. See from behind, the line-drawing of the female suggests a dancer on a Parisian stage act such as the Folies Bergere or Paradis Latin - variety performances for the male admirer. She looks over her left shoulder as if to wink in our direction, all part of the illusion of coquettish desire and greedy eroticism. Old Compton Street is known for cafes, bars and especially the gay, trans-gender scene and for sellers of erotic toy 'accessories'!
    electricity129-17-01-2008 .jpg
  • An electricity pylon is seen through a bedroom window where a pillow
    electricity036-27-12-2007 .jpg
  • A clothes line merges with the lines of an electricity pylon near flats on the Hales Place estate in Canterbury
    electricity298-25-01-2008 .jpg
  • An electricity pylon stands amongst bare trees on a gloomy winter day in woodland near Wrington, North Somerset England.
    electricity057-28-12-2007 .jpg
  • Electricity cables stretch into early morning mist above Swanscombe, Kent, London England. In the foreground we see a stack of discs called Insulators which stop the electricity carried in the conductor (the wires strung between each pylon) from jumping to the pylon and then down to earth. The cables disappear into the winter fog creating a Sci-Fi scene of 21st technology. Diagonally, the cables travel across the picture but they are part of a line of 542 pylons that have already crossed 110 miles of English countryside, carrying 40,000 Volts along this network of aluminium cables from Dungeness coal-fired power station to West Ham sub station in London's East End - to power the West End's high energy supply demands.
    electricity407-11-02-2008 .jpg
  • Dropped during construction of electricity pylons, a bolt and its nut lies on a forest floor, Clowes Wood, Chestfield, Kent
    electricity302-25-01-2008 .jpg
  • Electricity cables stretch into early morning mist above Swanscombe, Kent, London England. In the foreground we see a stack of discs called Insulators which stop the electricity carried in the conductor (the wires strung between each pylon) from jumping to the pylon and then down to earth. The cables disappear into the winter fog creating a Sci-Fi scene of 21st technology. Diagonally, the cables travel across the picture but they are part of a line of 542 pylons that have already crossed 110 miles of English countryside, carrying 40,000 Volts along this network of aluminium cables from Dungeness coal-fired power station to West Ham sub station in London's East End - to power the West End's high supply demands.
    electricity409-11-02-2008 .jpg
  • Thorny twig in the foreground near an electricity pylon behind one foggy morning on Botany Marshes, Swanscombe, Kent
    electricity406-11-02-2008 .jpg
  • The leg of an electricity pylon carrying lines 1.3km over the Thames from Botany Marshes, Swanscombe, Kent to Thurrock, Essex.
    electricity412-11-02-2008 .jpg
  • Billy Cocklin has painted woz ere on the aluminium leg of an electricity pylon near a housing estate in Beckton.
    electricity255-22-01-2008 .jpg
  • The entrance to the RSPB's bird and wildlife reserve at Rainham Marshes, Essex.
    electricity375-03-02-2008 .jpg
  • Hidden in a wooden hut, a group of bird-spotting ornithologists peer through binoculars at the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) rreserve at Rainham Marshes, Essex England. Watching dozens of wintering birds, the group are intensely looking through their optical equipment in anticipation of seeing rare breeds at this Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI), a wetland alongside the River Thames, 20 miles from Central London. A narrow slit is open to keep them hidden from sight so leaning on elbows and with a guide sheet in front to identify particular species, they concentrate on their hobby. The RSPB has 200 nature reserves covering almost 130,000 hectares, home to 80% of Britain's rarest or most threatened bird species. Its role is to speak out for birds and wildlife, tackling the problems that threaten the environment.
    electricity385-03-02-2008 .jpg
  • Daily information board and wildlife film provided for RSPB bird ornithologists at Rainham Marshes, reserve.
    electricity389-03-02-2008 .jpg
  • Camouflaged birdspotters peer through binoculars for wildlife at the RSPB's bird and wildlife reserve at Rainham Marshes, Essex
    electricity363-03-02-2008 .jpg
  • A lorry driver reads a newspaper and eats an apple for lunch in his cab at a drivers' layby on the A229 near Whitstable, Kent
    electricity315-25-01-2008 .jpg
  • A boarded-up derelict cafe that once served All Day Breakfasts, now on wasteland in Canning Town, Newham..
    electricity216-20-01-2008 .jpg
  • Pensioner Jim Burrows cuts leaks by his shed overlooked by a giant eletricity pylon at Leys Road allotments, East London.
    electricity191-20-01-2008 .jpg
  • The dark outline of an electricity pylon stands over a gloomy winter sky in woodland near Wrington, North Somerset England.
    electricity055-27-12-2007 .jpg
  • Tangled tricycle hangs in barbed wire of an electricity pylon on an estate in Beckton, East London.
    electricity247-22-01-2008 .jpg
  • An electricity L6 pylon stands framed in height restriction poles on industrial wasteland at Barton Down, Canterbury, Kent
    electricity290-25-01-2008 .jpg
  • Local and nationwide electricity power lines merging with golden reed grasses on Botany Marshes, Swanscombe, Kent.
    electricity415-11-02-2008 .jpg
  • Left-turn traffic arrow and double-yellow no parking lines shine during rain on a wet street in London's West End.
    electricity098-17-01-2008 .jpg
  • Insulator discs and pylon at the electricity substation, South Bromley, seen from the Pylon Industrial Estate, London.
    electricity271-22-01-2008 .jpg
  • A young lady texts a friend outside an electronic shop in London's Tottenham Court Road, where TVs show the King Kong film.
    electricity095-17-01-2008 .jpg
  • On a rainy night, a young female smokes under a heated, sheltered smokers' zone outside a bar in London
    electricity117-17-01-2008 .jpg
  • Lady visitor to London's Theatreland gets directions from a passer-by beneath a Freddy Mercury  outside the Dominion Theatre
    electricity092-12-01-2008 .jpg
  • A passer-by stands next to a menu from a Chinese restaurant in Gerrard Street in London's Chinatown, England. The words Dim Sum Daily are displayed in neon lights above the person's head, its translated message is written on the top in Chinese characters. In the clear window we can see rows of Peking duck. It is early evening and the street is full of colour from the artificial lighting that creates an inviting mood for those browsing the menus on offer in this lively part of London's West End. The pedestrian is partly silhouetted and she stands in profile looking straight ahead as if ignoring what is on offer.
    electricity35.jpg
  • A tangle of electric lights are strung together on the ceiling of a West End construction site in London's Soho.
    electricity126-17-01-2008 .jpg
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Richard Baker Photography

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