During the 1980s, the area of East London transformed rapidly. Canary Wharf and the Isle of Dogs area of London Docklands underwent much innovative construction. Katharine’s Docks became a centre for newspaper printing and publishing, as many firms relocated there from Fleet Street in the City of London. By the mid-1980s, the District line and Central line were beyond capacity, and the Docklands Light Railway (1987) and Jubilee line (1999) were subsequently constructed to improve rail transport in the area. Despite rapid change in some parts of the East End, the area continues to contain some of the worst poverty in the country.
Photographer Peter Marshall visited and documented shop fronts, businesses, streets, ghost signs and people of the East End in 1986.
