Hind Land

Hind Land is a collaboration between photographers Nick Rochowski and Tim Bowditch, surveying the pedestrian walkways beneath London’s Orbital M25 motorway. Since it’s completion 25 years ago the M25 has dramatically changed the landscape of the surrounding area and come to define the boundary of the city. Utilising online mapping tools to locate points at which one can pass underneath the 188.3km structure by foot, they are fascinated by the voids left by the motorway as it carves through the landscape. The road divides the countryside in two, leaving a visible and audible rip in the environment above the ground, and a no-man's land beneath. Together they survey these voids at night, using an Achromatic Digital Back capable of creating wide spectrum black and white images. This kind of technology is often used for aerial topographic studies, as it is able to record the visible as well as the infrared and ultraviolet parts of the spectrum. By photographing at night with long exposures they give the camera a completely blank canvas, devoid of contrast. Due to the way light is recorded with such technology, hidden details become apparent and the landscape appears almost lunar in quality. The work is presented large scale that adapts to different sites, using print or projection as a final medium. As part of an installation, the project is presented with an immersive sound recording made by the artist Matthew de Kersaint Giraudeau who has collaborated throughout.