Discarded toys, deflated tyres, derelict buildings and damning graffiti are just some of the images captured by photographer Juliana Edwards in her powerful new book 2012: A Place That Was; a 120-page photographic record of the east London site that will house the Olympics, taken from when London won the bid to host the Games in 2005 until the closure of many of the roads in 2007 to make way for construction.

With a personal connection to the Stratford area, Juliana, who lived in Temple Mills Lane and Clays Lane which has now been demolished to make way for the Olympic Village, tells me the book was something she felt compelled to do.

“In the last six or eight months of the Olympic bid, I was thinking this is fantastic and this is somewhere I used to live going through the most amazing change,” she says.

“I thought I just have to go back and see what it is like, so made a few recce trips. Once the announcement was made, well that was it, I thought this pocket of Stratford will only exist in this way for a short period of time, so I have to get out there and do it, and if I can get a number of images together that would be great – but I wasn’t thinking of a book.”

Notably absent from the book are people. And while not consciously setting out to emit humans, Juliana, who now lives in Mortlake, west London, with her partner and one-year-old daughter, tells me their presence became less and less important as the project progressed.

“At the beginning, I did shoot some people on the travellers side, but, I guess, there were two things really. One, there was a bit of photographer fatigue, ‘we have already been in the Evening Standard’ etc. And two, as I started shooting, I began thinking what resonates more is the marks people make and what they leave behind, graffiti and old furniture, for example.”

She adds: “People’s idea of permanence is usually based on the premise that bricks, mortar and concrete will be there forever, but here in this part of east London, all of a sudden they are not, that's when human traces and that connection becomes really interesting.”

Openly admitting that during her university days, she found Stratford “miserable” at times, this project has allowed Juliana to tap into a new appreciation for the borough.

“Stratford was always ripe for investment, not that it was horrible, but what struck me was how colourful and vibrant it was and the people there should just embrace it. In every area there are nice parts and not so nice parts, but we should enjoy it and each other because nothing lasts forever. Stratford is a great place and it could be better with more love, investment and a bit of TLC.”

Details: 2012: The Place That Was can be ordered at www.theplacethatwas.co.uk or by calling 0845 539 0139. It is also available at www.amazon.co.uk. Priced at £37.