London (Gillender Street 3) 1997 1997

Editor: This is John Riddy's "London (Gillender Street 3)" from 1997, held at the Tate. It's a black and white photograph of an empty room, quite stark. I feel a bit of melancholy looking at it. What do you see in this piece? Curator: An echo, perhaps? Riddy often captures these in-between spaces, these husks of former lives. Look at the light, how it bleeds in from the window. It's not dramatic, it's quiet, almost a whisper. What do you think the artist is trying to tell us? Editor: Maybe it's about memory, the layers of time building up like the peeling paint? Curator: Exactly! It reminds me of poetry... incomplete sentences that hint at larger narratives, wouldn't you agree? The photo becomes a canvas for our own projections. Editor: That’s a wonderful perspective. It feels less empty now, and more full of possibility.