A photograph from the backstreets of London during the Olympics 2012

I’d often take a short cut home, through some derelict boat yards and pass this make shift door to someone’s home hidden within the urban decay of west London.

Each time I passed by the door, I promised myself to return with my camera. There was something in the way the number was painted in red on the bare wood that I loved – some beauty in the seemingly accidental typography.

If I walked this way at night, coming home from the local pub, foxes that foraged left overs from torn rubbish bags would scurry away and stare at me from the safety of the suburban scrub. I knew they were watching because when I shone a torch into the darkness, their eyes would reflect like cats eyes from the blackness of the foliage. They were the silent night keepers of the entrance.

And again, each time I’d remind myself to return with my camera.

It was soon summer 2012 and Olympic fever hit London. Union Jacks appeared everywhere as the country revelled in the being at the centre of the international spotlight as the worlds attention focussed in on London town and the great gathering of the world’s athletes. Union Jacks also appeared on the door to the abode at number 12 of the derelict buildings.

One day I did remember my camera and this is the simple result.

Looking at this photo recently, I realised the number 12 matched the year 2012, and now with Brexit and the potential of the breakup of the United Kingdom, the number along with the flags somehow seem even more relevant. The image is 5 years old this week.

It’s still one of my favourite photographs and I cant explain why. Maybe because the building is now long gone, demolished along with our memories of seemingly insignificant things we’ve seen or experienced.

I never saw anyone walk in or out of the door. Maybe only the foxes know who lived there.

A small moment in time saved by the click of a shutter.

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Tarquin Maine