I received a tip off about this protest piece from a friend and made my way to Hackney Wick as quick as I could to get a photo. The Wick on a rainy, cold and dark afternoon is not the most joyous of places especially when dodging cement trucks trying to get a shot of a giant penis drawn on a wall. It’s an area in flux, partly industrial mixed with artists studios and warehouses. The whole place has a shabbiness that sits uncomfortably with the Olympic development that’s growing just yards away over the River Lea and faces an uncertain future. It would be a real shame if this area were to be gentrified to blandness just to protect the sensibilities of a few visitors later this year but I fear that’s exactly what will happen.

I was lucky that I took the picture when I did because apparently the next day it was painted over. Maybe it touched a nerve.