Edward Barber

Edward Barber kept a sketchbook in his back pocket, filling it with quick line drawings of London’s street corners and pub interiors. He drew the same fire escape in Shoreditch every Tuesday for six months, noticing how light changed the bolts’ shadows. In 2007, the V&A asked him to contribute to their 155th birthday book; he sent a single sheet of dense cross-hatching that somehow felt like both a map and a memory.

Why he’s here: tap “Contribution to V&A’s 150th anniversary album” and you’ll see how a few inches of paper can hold a whole neighborhood.