Eugénie Shinkle, a photographer and artist, has produced a new work reflecting on Rom skatepark, located in Hornchurch, east London. Constructed in 1978, Rom was the United Kingdom’s first purpose-built skatepark, made from high-pressure sprayed concrete. Once a vibrant space for skateboarding, the site is now largely unused, with its vast concrete forms weathered by time and nature, showing stains, cracks, and lichen growth.

Shinkle’s work captures the park’s unique atmosphere, which she describes as possessing a “primordial” quality, appearing as much a product of natural erosion as of human design. The skatepark’s curvilinear shapes were originally intended to be raced through at speed on skateboards, making navigation on foot challenging and disorienting. These fluid forms also resist straightforward photographic representation, as they defy conventional linear perspectives.

In her project titled “ROM,” Shinkle uses three different analogue cameras to explore and document the site. This approach results in a series of fragmented images rather than a single, unified portrayal. The composite photographs evoke a sense of latent motion frozen in time, reflecting both the physical space and the passage of time altering it. Through this layered visual narrative, Shinkle conveys the skatepark’s ongoing transformation, a space simultaneously crafted by humans and shaped by natural forces beyond its original purpose.

“ROM” is scheduled to be exhibited as part of Peckham 24, a multidisciplinary arts event taking place from May 15 to 17. Further details about the event are available through the official Peckham 24 website.