Shannon Johnston Howes Shannon Johnston Howes Illustrator, Artist, and Designer

'Blank Streets: Locations of the Lives and Deaths of the Canonical Five' was originally concieved solely as a photography book, featuring the modern day locations connected to the five victims of Jack the Ripper. As I researched further I felt uncomfortable creating something about these women without including the women themselves, and the project became more of a recount of the women's lives with accompanying photography.

Although tonally more serious than my other publications, Blank Streets involves more creative elements than either Our Ladies Of Horror or Daughters and Sons of Friday.

The inner pages feature a Victorian street map for each woman, with the locations of each photograph marked; due to cost, the pages are printed in black and white, so marking the map is done by hand using adhesive marker dots. The main cover is a lino print featuring the same Victorian map of Whitechapel and Aldgate, each cover being printed and bound to order.