Heathrow Book, the best of

The best 50 images from 'A Week at the Airport: A Heathrow Diary'.

In the summer of 2009, photographer Richard Baker and essayist Alain de Botton were commissioned by London Heathrow Airport's owners to become their first ever writer and photographer in residence.

With the creative freedom to say and photograph what they felt and saw, they have created an uplifting and unique journey through the days and nights of the UK's largest airport.

While de...
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The best 50 images from 'A Week at the Airport: A Heathrow Diary'.

In the summer of 2009, photographer Richard Baker and essayist Alain de Botton were commissioned by London Heathrow Airport's owners to become their first ever writer and photographer in residence.

With the creative freedom to say and photograph what they felt and saw, they have created an uplifting and unique journey through the days and nights of the UK's largest airport.

While de Botton was installed in the middle of Terminal 5 on a raised platform with a laptop connected to screens, enabling passengers to see what he is writing and to come and share their stories, Baker was given free reign to experience one of the world's busiest airports from the perspective of both passengers and of those workers who daily keep the aviation hub up and running. Despite excellent credentials, access was bureaucratically complicated but areas where signs indicated 'No Photography' were places where Richard was eventually allowed to wander largely unhindered.

At a cost of £4.3 billion, Terminal 5 has the capacity to serve around 30 million passengers a year though its controversial public consultation took 19 years, opening in 2008 to chaotic baggage mishandling.

From the British Airways crews and aircraft; refuellers and baggage handlers; the security teams; in-flight meal kitchens to peddling Paramedics it also covers the everyday emotional reaction of parting lovers and reunited families; the glorious cathedral-like architecture and the night time quiet.

The resulting book is a meditation upon the nature of place, time, and our daily lives. It explores the magical and the mundane, personal and collective experiences and the interactions of travellers and workers all over this familiar but mysterious site. Like all airports, Heathrow is a 'non-place' that we by definition want to leave, but it also provides a window into many worlds - through the thousands of people it dispatches every day.
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