Topography of the Titanic
Kai-Olaf Hesse

In October 2002, German photographer Kai-Olaf Hesse initiated Topography of Titanic; an extensive photographic survey of Queens Island sites related to the making of the Titanic; the historic marks, remaining buildings, and suggestive blanks left by rapid demolition and transformation.

The River Lagan cuts through Belfast allocating the west bank of the city to Co. Antrim and the east to Co. Down. In 1840 the Lagan was straightened and the spoil was used to create a 17-acre landmass, later named Queens Island. In 1867, five years after the formation of the Harland & Wolff resident shipyard, Queens Island was connected to east Belfast. Titanic Quarter Ltd is a company set up to redevelop the almost redundant 185-acre shipyard site on Queen’s Island. As part of the government backed Regional Development Strategy, the Titanic Quarter plan aims to create up to 10,000 jobs and attract £400m in investment over a 10-15yr period. Planning applications have been submitted and the first building in a £40m science park was opened in May 2003.

Kai-Olaf Hesse is a photographer and works since 1996 also as an exhibition and book designer for publishers, museums, artists and other institutions. He has contributed to more than 30 book productions and also worked on several personal photographic projects which were conceived as and have later resulted in books. He has an array of international teaching experience, including recent workshops for photographers in Berlin, India, Singapore and Ireland.

Belfast Exposed is an independent, non-profit organisation and registered charity situated in the Cathedral Quarter, Belfast. Founded in 1983 by a group of local photographers as a challenge to media representation of Belfast’s experience of conflict, their work continues to reflect a socially engaged ethos, while responding to contemporary currents in photography and politics further afield.