Epping Forest is a 2,400 hectares area of ancient woodland between Epping in the north and Wanstead in the south, straddling the border between Greater London and Essex. I tend to get off at Loughton Tube Station (Central Line), which is about 10–12min walk to the forest.
This painted of the shopping centre by my brother, Leo Verhoeven, shows a rather idyllic vision of the shopping centre we both share. Its pretty rough, full of budget shops and funny cafes and framed by a shanty town style open air market. I have a real soft spot for it as the classic under dog, thats so often slated and condemned but lives on.
The power station is a ghost like ruin that stands on the banks of the Thames. Its right next to the train tracks rolling out of London to the rest of the south of England. I pass it every time I go back to where I grew up and every time I arrive back in London. It has become symbolic with arriving and departing, a constant in my life. I used to joke and refer to it as my lover - seeing me off and welcoming me home.