The presentation will be about 1h long with a slideshow of images and a discussion about the project, my experiences and your comments afterwards. Save the date, and I hope to see you all there!
When: Friday, April 23rd @ 4pm & 7pm
Where: Streatham Library
63 Streatham High Road
I have written about my experiences with the over 50's group in my blog entry on February 8th. However, the presentation at the Streatham Society Meeting was no less lively with many of the audience participating eagerly in the discussion afterwards. For me these discussions with the locals are very interesting - they give a great insight into the community. While the audience loved the images, the discussion showed that at the same time they find it challenging to see contemporary Streatham in a positive light.
Nevertheless, I hope that my images with their vibrancy of colours that adorn the shops, and which reflects the road’s ethnic diversity, in combination with the portraits of all the wonderful local people will be at least a starting point to see this area from a different perspective:
A perfect microcosm of multicultural Britain with all its difficulties as well as all its beauty and opportunities.
Steve & Jazz
Mbark
Niesha
Michael
Many of my audience have lived in Streatham for all or most part of their lives, and one lady moved to Streatham as early as 1929 when she was 5 years old. It was interesting and fascinating to see the reaction to my pictures and speak to people who have known Streatham for such a long time. They have seen Streatham change over the years, and have known it with all its grandness of beautiful Victorian shopping arcades, and beautiful buildings such as the Ice Rink or the Astoria Cinema opening their doors with splendid celebrations in the 1930’s.
Much has changed since then- while Streatham recovered after the second world war to being a very busy shopping street in the 1950s a gradual decline started in the 1970s with many people telling me that the closure of the Pratt department store in 1990 had the most significant and negative impact on Streatham.
Change can be very difficult to accept, and Streatham has definitely seen a decline in offers for entertainment & retail, and a lack of redevelopment over the last decades. Most recently, Streatham Baths and the Ice Rink, both buildings from the 1930s, have had structural difficulties due to a lack of investment. However, despite its struggles to return to its former glory I feel that Streatham as we know it today holds an incredible diversity, beauty, and history which deserves to be recognised and cherished in its own right.
George Pratt & Co., Boys Outfitters (opposite of Pratts department store), Streatham High Road c.1899
©SusanneHakuba2010
You can find more old images from Streatham at: http://landmark.lambeth.gov.uk
Contemporary ones you can see at : www.susannehakuba.com
At this time of the year I tend to feel bit nostalgic- the grey in grey of January combined with plenty of rain and still few hours of daylight is not really what I call uplifting.
I miss the Christmas season with all those lights & decorations, Christmas markets with lovely mulled wine, meeting friends for a pre-Xmas drink and having a good excuse to relax with a good book or movie and some biscuits.
When attempting to photograph Christmas decorations on Streatham High Road in December, I found very few shops displaying anything Christmassy in their windows, nor were there many other festive displays or activities along the road.
This reminded me yet again what a multicultural area Streatham has become, and that certain times in the year can mean different things to different people depending on their culture and background. However, as far as I know there were a couple initiatives in 2009 to use empty shop windows for Christmas displays, and at some point I believe, a Christmas market was planned. For various reasons these wonderful ideas unfortunately didn’t materialize for 2009. Hopefully, though, such ideas will be more successful in 2010!
Wishing you all (a wee bit belated) a very happy New Year!
Below some images with christmas decorations taken on Streatham High Road.
Don’t despair I thought to myself and was back at my regular portrait spot on Remembrance Sunday. This time there were at least a few more poppy wearing people out and about but for the first half hour every single one I asked declined to have their portrait taken. So, when I eventually found a person who was happy with me taking their picture I was very relieved and thankful! It is funny but often it is this first person who changes the whole dynamic- suddenly other people agree on having their picture taken as well. This time the same happened, and in the end I had several wonderful portraits of people in Streatham wearing the poppy to remember the sacrifices made by so many in times of war.
Lastly, today I also would like to say a big THANK YOU to everybody who has participated in my project - without you it would not be possible!
