Presland, Anthony James;
(2023)
Picturing Construction, Constructing Identities: The Photographic Archive of John Laing & Son Ltd.
Doctoral thesis (Ph.D), UCL (University College London).
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Abstract
This thesis examines a photographic archive created by John Laing and Son Ltd, a major UK civil engineering and housebuilding company, to improve our understanding of the documentation of Laing’s construction process in the UK and the company which undertook the work. The thesis starts by developing a history of Laing, describing how the John Laing Photographic Collection amplifies works which were important to the company and offers a perspective on construction products and processes employed. It demonstrates how the retention of images drives a specific and intended presentation of the company. The second theme debates the use of photography in the development of Laing’s internal and external corporate identities. The use of photography in advertising and as a component of internal communications is considered. The final theme explored is the presentation of the built environment through the construction phase. It is argued that construction photography has a different character to that of architectural photography. This difference in character is evidenced through examination of a small number of specific works undertaken by Laing. The practice and profession of construction photography is compared to that of architectural photographers. The thesis concludes by arguing that while a single photograph captures a moment in time, the John Laing Photographic Collection presents a flow of events that can be viewed as a process of physical and immaterial creation through the construction of buildings and identity. This sense of a process is intrinsic to construction and is proposed as a differentiator to much of what is shown in architectural photography with its emphasis on a presentation of a completed structure, often frozen at the conclusion of construction and before habitation. Implicitly the thesis demonstrates the value of photography to historians of the built environment and especially the process of construction.
| Type: | Thesis (Doctoral) |
|---|---|
| Qualification: | Ph.D |
| Title: | Picturing Construction, Constructing Identities: The Photographic Archive of John Laing & Son Ltd |
| Open access status: | An open access version is available from UCL Discovery |
| Language: | English |
| Additional information: | Copyright © The Author 2023. Original content in this thesis is licensed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International (CC BY-NC 4.0) Licence (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/). Any third-party copyright material present remains the property of its respective owner(s) and is licensed under its existing terms. Access may initially be restricted at the author’s request. |
| Keywords: | Construction History, Architectural History |
| UCL classification: | UCL UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL BEAMS UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL BEAMS > Faculty of the Built Environment UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL BEAMS > Faculty of the Built Environment > The Bartlett School of Architecture |
| URI: | https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10168695 |
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