East End Review

Tag: Rich Mix

  • Bow Traveller children photograph their community in face of Crossrail development

    Traveller children. Photograph: Malita O'Donoghue
    Traveller children make their point. Photograph: Malita O’Donoghue

    In 2012, Crossrail announced plans to build their new railway and shaft through a 32-year-old gypsy and traveller site on Eleanor Street in Bow.

    In a petition to Parliament, the gypsy and traveller community state the move is “stressful” for the elderly, and that they face an “uncertain future for their children”.

    These children have now visualised their experiences as part of Cranes, Trains, Plots and Shots, a youth-led photography project which started in June 2013 and culminates this month with an exhibition at Rich Mix.

    The project was open to children aged four to 13, and is a moving document detailing the change in their environment and home life. Old and young, the travellers feel the weight of Crossrail. Elis is a seven year-old who took part in the project. “It’s upsetting because we have to leave our home and I don’t want to leave people behind,” he says.

    The exhibition aims to break down the ‘negative stereotypes’ that exist towards this community. Despite their unique situation, what is clear from the photographs is that the children are like any other children in London, having fun with their friends and making the best of their circumstances.

    “We have been taking photos of what we like, our friends, our home, our dogs to show other people,” explains Elis. Asked if taking the photographs were important, Elis replies: “It is very important because photos are on the news. With photos you can show people things, you can show people where you are.”

    Perhaps without them realising, these childrens’ work is an empowering depiction of the community’s hopeful future.

    The Crossrail project may have fractured and displaced the gypsies and travellers, but these photographs are proof children can articulate their thoughts positively, which in turn can only keep their community together and make them stronger.

    Cranes, Trains, Plots & Shots is at Rich Mix, 35-47 Bethnal Green Road, E1 6LA until 12 July

  • Brick Lane is remembered in photographs

    Doing the laundry: photograph of Brick Lane by Phil Maxwell
    Doing the laundry: photograph of Brick Lane by Phil Maxwell

    Since moving to London in 1981, Phil Maxwell has always lived just off Brick Lane in an 11-storey tower block. It is the perfect location for somebody who is known as the photographer of Brick Lane and its surrounding areas. “I’ve noticed how the London skyline changes over the years,” Maxwell says.

    These changes are documented in Maxwell’s new book Brick Lane by Spitalfields Life Books, an intimate collection of photographs dating back to 1982. The book dispenses with words to let the photographs speak for themselves.

    His passion for documenting the inner city began in Toxteth, Liverpool, a place that, Maxwell says, “wasn’t too dissimilar to Brick Lane”. Maxwell admits he is particularly fond of his photographs from the 1980s because the “environment was so disconnected”. Maxwell adds: “The area had lots of corrugated iron, dilapidated buildings and that somehow enabled me to focus on the people better.”

    Maxwell’s photography captures moments of humanity that are apparent in all three decades. “There’s a similarity in the faces and a common humanity which I’m interested in capturing in my work,” says Maxwell.

    However, Maxwell has been witness to a lot of change in the area since 1981. Maxwell says: “When I moved here, it was quite run down but now it is a playground for people who can frequent the bars. A lot of people have been driven out of the area. I preferred it before it became commercialised like it is now.”

    This change has not dampened Maxwell’s enthusiasm for the area. The older photographs are special, Maxwell insists, because it shows how Brick Lane used to be a meeting place for Bangladeshi families. “The houses were quite overcrowded, so people treated the street as an extension of their home. It’s like a theatre where all human life is there.”

    Asked if the area bored him, Maxwell says: “I never get bored of the area. If I walked out and took a photograph now, there’d be something new for me. It constantly surprises me.” Against a backdrop of change, Maxwell finds interest in the faces of Brick Lane and its surrounding areas.

    “It’s interesting to see the different characteristics and personalities on Brick Lane or in Whitechapel and Stepney,” Maxwell tells me. Brick Lane is a crossroads between the city and the “real east end” with people on lower incomes. His photography thrives on the hustle and bustle of the marketplaces, the interaction between people from different cultures and the faces of the people.

    When asked if his work was political, Maxwell replies: “It is insomuch that it values the lives and the tribulations of ordinary people. They came together to demonstrate against the war and the BNP and National Front in the 80s and 90s. I celebrate the people and their lives, and the difficulties they have in trying to survive.”

    Maxwell’s book is a heartfelt look at a city and, most importantly, its people. “A lot of our culture celebrates celebrity. I think it’s important to show the other side. I am full of admiration for ordinary people and I want to celebrate them in my work.”

    Maxwell’s work shows the change in our city, but also celebrates the undimmed enthusiasm of ordinary people trying to survive in London.

    Brick Lane by Phil Maxwell on at the Mezzanine gallery, Rich Mix, 35 – 47 Bethnal Green Road, E1 6LA until 26 April.