Barbican Launderette, Fann Street, EC2 Photograph - Limited Edition of 7

Joshua Blackburn’s Laundamatic series documents one man’s love affair with launderettes. In March 2018, Blackburn set off to photograph every launderette in London; from Enfield to Croyden and Uxbridge to Romford. Since embarking on this ambitious project, he has visited over 350 launderettes in the Greater London postcode district. The impact of this series lies in the portrait it creates not simply of a unique institution but of London itself. The photographs capture the individuality, aesthetics and humanity of London’s last remaining public laundries. The story of London’s launderettes is a story of a changing urban landscape. In the last thirty years, over three quarters of the city’s launderettes have closed. The reasons are clear enough: gentrification, rising rents and changing household habits have all played their part. And yet, despite this precarious existence, launderettes continue to play a valuable role for many communities. They are a social space and a place of belonging. At a time when high streets are becoming ever more homogenous, repeating their template of fast consumerism, launderettes remain stubbornly slow. They are out of time and out of place – literally and emotionally – and this quality is simultaneously the reason for their appeal and the cause of their crisis. The photographs featured in the series reflect the uneasy tension inherent to nostalgia. The beauty of the physical spaces contrast with their emptiness. They are the living remains of a London that’s passing. It is the people, however, that lend a sense of hope to the subject. Launderettes may be on the endangered list, but those who work there and use them continue to keep the heart beating. Like all nostalgia, Laundamatic is romantic; but it is a bittersweet nostalgia, recognising how fragile these communities are.