'They are very striking images. They contain all that eeriness and isolation that becomes so rampant when the crowds drain out of the Tower. There is also a sense of waiting that hides beneath their disturbing composition.' - Brian Catling

In August 2008 I was commissioned by Historic Royal Palaces to carry out an 8-month position as Artist/Photographer in Residence at the Tower of London. I was given complete freedom to respond photographically to this famous UNESCO World Heritage site and given access to a wealth of historic knowledge in the shape of the many people who work within its infamous walls.

Within the Tower of London, as with all Heritage sites, the historic experience is carefully managed. The buildings are dressed in anecdotes, stories and organised layers of official interpretation; visitors are constantly reminded of the importance and influence of the events that took place on the site.

Faced with the Towers historic importance, and also its familiar visual identity, I felt a need to go beyond, not only the typical tourist imagery, but also the officially selected histories that are presented to the visitor.

All the people who I got to know at the Tower of London: curators, historians, restorers, educators, administrators and even Yeoman Warders, had their own interesting stories of places that were off limits, behind the scenes or seemingly not of historic interest.

Many of these areas of the Tower are considered unimportant, ethically complicated, culturally anomalous or even too structurally sensitive to warrant public interpretation. It was these areas that I wanted to explore, these places where the layers of official historic interpretation were at their thinnest, or totally absent, and other, quieter stories could be found.