Tideway has unveiled a photography exhibition capturing
both the character of the River Thames and the people working to protect it.
Here, Taylor Geall, Tideway’s Senior Communications & Engagement Manager,
explains the thinking behind the exhibition and the challenges involved in bringing it to life.
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Standing by the Thames was conceived way back in the summer of 2024.
The Tideway project – a 25km-long sewer tunnel built beneath the River Thames to protect it from sewage pollution – was almost complete.
After ten years of construction and the work of more than 25,000 people, the world’s largest manhole cover had recently been lifted into position in east London, marking the end of the construction phase.
Lifting the lid into place at Abbey Mills Pumping Station in March 2024,
the final piece of major construction work on the Tideway project
Millions of work hours, billions of pounds spent, and so much vital infrastructure now built and ready to go, hidden deep beneath London.
With the large-scale civil engineering work now behind us, the decade-long industrial cacophony gave way to something quieter.
This was an important moment. This was a moment to reflect.
A moment to reflect on all those who had worked on the super sewer project, and on what they had achieved. A moment also to look forward, as a new chapter of river health began for the Thames.
At Tideway, we have always tried to celebrate the important moments in the history of our project.
In 2022, when we finished tunnelling, we hosted (what must be) the deepest musical performance ever held in London, when composer and cellist Rob Lewis performed an original piece of music nearly 70 metres underground in Bermondsey.
In 2023 – our final chance to utilise the tunnel – we built a garden inside it, to symbolise the healthier future of the River Thames. Adorned with the sights, sounds and even smells of a riparian oasis, the garden welcomed hundreds of people as it was exhibited for three weeks over the summer.
Then last year, in a truly crowning moment for our project, we welcomed His Majesty The King to Bazalgette Embankment – a new public space built on top of the super sewer – where he met with hundreds of members of the team and unveiled a plaque to formally acknowledge the completion of this vital new piece of London’s infrastructure.
Standing by the Thames, a new photo essay from acclaimed photographer Matthew Joseph, continues in this tradition.
This new work showcases the above-ground, riverside spaces created as part of the Tideway project, from Putney to Wapping.
Alongside this, seven intimate portraits – showing the people behind the project.
Mega-projects often get a tough time. Even Tideway – which has been delivered broadly on time and on budget, and is designed to protect the Thames from sewage pollution – has had its critics.
Civil engineering on this scale can often feel like a large, noisy, faceless endeavour.
So, what we wanted to do with Standing by the Thames was shine a light on the people behind a project like this, and show that these projects – which are vital to our society and our way of life – are, ultimately delivered by people.
We identified members of the Tideway team – not just from the client organisation, but from our supply chain – and put them front and centre.
Since day one on this project, we’ve worked hard to create a one-team atmosphere. From project safety inductions to new, best-in-class PPE for everyone, we wanted everyone to feel part of, and responsible for, this vital new infrastructure.
And Standing by the Thames is no different.
Tideway has been working with acclaimed Matthew for a decade. Not only is he a technical master (as you’ll no doubt agree seeing his work on this exhibition), but he is at heart a people person.
We’ve commissioned him to work underground, to take pictures of machines, to capture the scale of the Tideway project. But his instincts are always people-first, and that made him perfect for this exhibition.
Working with Matthew, we began sculpting the idea, with three key requirements baked into the brief: showcase our people, show the river, show the public realm.
He then worked on-and-off throughout 2025, curating each shoot. He spent a lot of time carefully recceing each site, choosing the perfect time of day to shoot, the ideal vantage, working with our subjects, adapting to changing weather – all while navigating the vagaries of shooting carefully choreographed photography amid a busy construction site.
After many false starts, early mornings and late nights (including a long wait for the lights of Big Ben to switch on), the photos were completed.
Seven portraits; seven panoramas. The photographic couplets capture perfectly the above-ground visible legacy of this once-in-a-generation mega-project – and, crucially, the people who delivered it.
That’s the purpose of Standing by the Thames.
Not simply to document the end of a major construction project, but to remind us that infrastructure is ultimately a human story. Behind every shaft, tunnel, crane and concrete pour were thousands of individuals bringing skill, judgement, resilience and care to this project.
Today, much of Tideway’s work is hidden from view beneath the river. The tunnel itself is largely invisible; its success will increasingly be measured in what people don’t see – fewer sewage discharges into the Thames, a healthier river environment, and a cleaner city for future generations.
But above ground, these new public spaces remain. Places for people to gather, pause, walk, sit, reflect and reconnect with the river.
This exhibition offers a moment to pause and look back at what has been achieved – not only in engineering terms, but in human ones, too.
A cleaner Thames. New public spaces for London. And the story of the people who made it happen.