Hooking up with the Billingsgate fishmongers – in pictures

Commuting at 5am to Canary Wharf is not the typical artist’s routine, but it’s been Pat Wingshan Wong’s since she started a project at Billingsgate fish market in 2019 to capture life there ahead of its planned move to Dagenham by 2025. “I miss it on days I don’t visit,” she says. “I’m friends with the fishmongers, which is my biggest achievement in the project.” On her dawn visits she sketched the fishmongers, then bartered her portraits with them in return for their stories and memorabilia. “Billingsgate reminds me of my marginalised identity as a Hong Konger. I wanted to show the significance of the space, and how it’s affected by rapid urban development.” The full archive is now on show at the market cafe until 10 July. “This project taught me to enjoy myself. The fishmongers love their work and it was great to collaborate with them on how these memories are preserved.”

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