Still is an investigation of vacated interior spaces at Hornsey Town Hall – a North London municipal Modernist Grade II listed building not in public use since the 1980s. Traces of human presence and activity from distant and recent pasts were recorded in photographs and on video.

Bakker set out to breathe life back into the abandoned spaces and for a number of photographs objects unearthed from storage were positioned into invented settings. In the video, the building's dormant near silent spaces are re-energised and appear haunted as office doors creak, drawers slam and the battered out-of-tune piano is played.

A selection of photographs and the video film were exhibited inside Hornsey Town Hall itself in what used to be the Borough Architects' and Engineers' Drawing Rooms. The exhibition opened at its 75th anniversary on 4 November 2010.

Still: Twenty eight framed C-type prints from negative film, 50cm x 50cm; six C-type prints from digital file, 25cm x 19cm, matt coated inkjet paper mounted on polypropylene sheeting.

Still (video, 13 mins, 2010): The Darkened Valley (1920) by John Ireland performed by Helen Kamminga at Hornsey Town Hall 6 August 2010. Superscription 'Walking along the darkened valley, with silent melancholy' by William Blake from Merry, hither come (1783).

A document with a selection of historical newspaper cuttings was available for viewing during the exhibition. With thanks to Steve Amor.

Many thanks to Steve Amor, Ian Brinley, Mark Oliver, Elena Pippou and Lorraine Sparkes at Haringey Council. Rebecca Faulkner and Ann Wilks at Hornsey Town Hall Creative Trust. Rommert Bakker, Darren Birch, Martin Crawley, Valeria de Donno, Jeroen Huisman, Jo Mieszkowski, Diana Miles, Ross Monaghan, Ricki Ostrov, Paul Savage, James Taylor, James Townsend, Frances Walsh, Phil Webb and Regina Wolek.

June 2011
As part of the project, Bakker photographed the contents of a Strong Room storing council blueprints dating from 1935 to 1965. The room had remained untouched for 45 years. Six photographs from this series won First Prize (Gold) at the London Photographic Association Still Life 5 competition >Read