Max Ferguson is an artist, photo editor and educator. He is the Founder of Oval Press and Splash & Grab Magazine; the Photography Editor of Granta; and a Senior Lecturer in photography at the London College of Communication.

The London College of Communication tower block at Elephant & Castle was opened in 1964 and became an important example of post-war British Modernism. Since then, tens of thousands of students have studied, experimented, bunked off, daydreamed and smoked across its fourteen floors. The Velvet Underground played there in 1971, when it was still called the London College of Printing. Dazed & Confused Magazine was founded by Jefferson Hack and Rankin when they were students there in the early 90’s. It is the only university building in the UK with a full Heidelberg offset press.

In 2027, LCC moves to a new building across the road. The site was previously the iconic Elephant & Castle Shopping Centre, a key hub for London’s Latino diaspora. The eviction and forced relocation of long-standing Latino business has been controversial and painful. The LCC tower block will be demolished, and replaced by three towers of student accommodation and premium apartments, only 28% of which will be classed as “affordable”.

For the past two academic years, Ferguson has been working with many of the last students who will study in the building on an ongoing portrait series. Approaching the project as a tool for teaching and the co-production of knowledge, Ferguson collaborates closely with students on the concept, shooting, printing and display of the work. It is a project in which processes of production and education are as much a part of the artwork as the outcome itself. As well as being shot in the building, the work was developed and hand printed in the university darkrooms, and the prints re-photographed on an archival PhaseOne camera in the studios. The installation incorporates large-format laser prints, framed c-types, collaged hand-prints, video, and a replica “tower block” made from industrial shelving. Reflexive and iterative, Ferguson’s work considers the neoliberalisation of the university model and its role in gentrification, whilst building a lasting memorial to this iconic building and its student community.