Hessel Street, East London. Early morning, shopkeepers set out their wares as pedestrians hurry through the street.

Scenes from working life: A barber cuts hair; rows of machinists sew fabric and, inside a chicken factory, chickens are processed from live and squawking animals to piles of carcasses on a table.

The street fills with people: women gossip animatedly, shoppers inspect goods, friends huddle over Jewish newspapers featuring stories of local interest. Later the street seems derelict and abandoned. A photographer adjusts his camera, quietly observed by a few inhabitants. He focuses the lens on a housing estate looming over the street.

Finally a demolition team knocks down the buildings and fills skips with debris.