Wex Photo Video heads behind the scenes with world-renowned photographer Julia Fullerton-Batten to hear more about her project 'Old Father Thames'. The creation of Old Father Thames has spanned across several years, exploring and recreating historic events that took place across a multitude of locations along the river Thames in London. Julia walks us through her process as she re-creates a moment in time. 

The River Thames is not even the longest river in the British Isles and a mere pygmy in comparison with many other rivers in the world, yet its significance to British and world history is immense. The river starts as a small trickle in the hills to the northwest of London and travels for nearly 450km through the south of England, the center of London, and thence out into the North Sea via the Thames Estuary, meandering its way through some of England’s most picturesque towns and villages.

Julia's latest artwork depicts a time where hospitals overflowed with patients, and St Guy's Hospital were forced to treat patients along the river to accommodate the high-numbers; a situation not to dissimilar to the recent Covid pandemic.