At Ridley Road Market with Lucinda Rogers

[Interview with Lucinda Rogers by James Hobbs] The drawings of London-based artist and illustrator Lucinda Rogers are well known through such publications as the Independent, the Guardian, the New Yorker and the Los Angeles Times, and are in collections including the British Museum and the Victoria and Albert Museum. Her exhibition of on-location drawings about gentrification and the 130-year-old Ridley Road Market in London’s East End continues at the House of Illustration, London, until 25 March 2018. (Above: Fruit mountain at the entrance to Ridley Road, 50x70cm.)

JH: How important is drawing on location for you? Is much of your work done at a desk?

LR: None of the work is done at the desk: it’s all made on site, directly in front of the subject. A drawing will take four to eight hours, sometimes more. I draw on site because it’s just more interesting to be there on the spot. The response to something directly into my eye goes straight into the line on the page. The process is partly about the recording of a particular time. Things move, things change and sometimes the picture has to respond to that. With a photograph, the viewpoint and much else has already been decided for you, leaving little to re-interpret.

Bedding stall with Alex and Plant Guy, Ridley Road, 50x70cm

JH: How did the Ridley Road Market project come about?

LR: I was commissioned by the House of Illustration to do an exhibition that concerns London and how it is changing, and chose to focus on a street market that I had always wanted to draw, near to where I live in east London. I did the drawings over a period of three months – there are about 34 drawings in the show.

Ras P’s stall next to Sarge’s stall and flag, Ridley Road, 50x70cm

My aim was to portray the variety and character of the market by building up a series of different, closely observed views, stalls and people, including some formal portraits. I also drew the tower of luxury apartments being built at one end of the market, which is a sign of change to come in the neighbourhood.

The project made me appreciate the value of Ridley Road Market, socially, for health and wealth, and in many other ways. I feel that in a civilised society we should be able to give a long life to the things that have real value, while changing others. What’s depressing about gentrification is that it sweeps away so much in its path.

Luggage stall, Ridley Road, 50x70cm

JH: What is the normal kit that you take out when you are drawing in, say, Ridley Road?

LR: Foam board (foam core) to support the paper; Higgins waterproof ink; watercolours and coloured pencils; dip pen and brushes; and a stool, but I sometimes stand up. I draw on paper: the average size, for example for the Ridley Road drawings, is 70x50cm. I use sketchbooks a bit while travelling or for working drawings.

Recession Special! (Greenwich and 6th Ave, NYC), 50x70cm

JH: You use different coloured papers: can you explain more about that?

LR: I started to use coloured paper as it can provide a more interesting base for the line. Light can be picked out in a way that can’t be done on white. I choose the colour of paper according to how I see the prevailing colour or character of the scene.

Alpha and Omega, Ridley Road, 50x70cm

JH: What is the current state of reportage drawing at the moment, in your view?

LR: There’s more reportage drawing around, but there seem to be fewer outlets for it than before, as newspapers and magazines – in the UK at least – have cut their budgets for illustration. But there are other commercial uses, like corporate brochures and so on: designers still want to use illustration/drawing in what they do.

Firemen asleep at 1am (St Paul’s Chapel, Broadway), 41x46cm

JH: Your drawings following the attack on the World Trade Centre in 2001 are particularly moving. How was that experience for you?

LR: I got access to areas behind the scenes during the clearing operation around Christmas 2001 and in a short space of time did a series of mostly black-and-white drawings responding to what I saw in St Paul’s Chapel – a centre for people working on the site – and around the edges of the site. It was a moment in time. Being in the temporary morgue, where human remains were brought, was difficult, but the people working there had a lot of spirit, and that is what I drew. I felt the need to record the event urgently. It was only afterwards that I looked at the drawings as performing a significant role. There was very little photography allowed on the site.

Aeroplane hangar

Aeroplane wheel hangar

JH: Are there other reportage commissions that stand out for you?

LR: Drawing in the docks, from the bridge of a container ship in Hull and inside an aircraft hangar at Heathrow are some of my favourite places. I am inspired by the shapes of big pieces of machinery and how they contrast with the human scale, and it’s interesting seeing something like an aeroplane in a different context, being repaired. Another very memorable time was drawing a music festival backstage including a Neil Young concert from the side of the stage, a drawing that lasted for the length of the concert. The stage was filled with instruments, kit, lights and props, which appealed to my love of paraphernalia.

JH: What advice would you give to reportage artists starting out or trying to make a name for themselves?

LR: Find subjects that inspire you and give them your full attention.

Lucinda Rogers (Photo Patricia Niven)

Lucinda Rogers: On Gentrification is at the House of Illustration, 2 Granary Square, King’s Cross, London N1C 4BH until 25 March 2018. She will take part in a panel discussion on reportage illustration there on 21 March. Find out more about her work on her website, www.lucindarogers.co.uk, and follow her on Instagram.