Transformation

A couple of weeks ago, on the other side of the Atlantic in Woodstock, NY, I showed some of the images from my Streatham High Road project to a few photographers. I was very surprised, to say the least, when a fellow photographer from Canada told me that he lived in Streatham in the 70s. I thought it was quite amazing to travel to another continent and there by coincidence I meet somebody who has a connection to Streatham!

Bill told me that he didn’t recognise Streatham when he saw my shop front pictures as a lot of things have changed over the years- the demographics have become much more diverse, shops closed down and new ones opened, and some buildings were demolished. Thinking about the transformation an area goes through over the years, I was thinking about all the changes that have happened on Streatham High Road in just the short time frame I have been doing this project- in a city like London there seems to be constant change and adjustment! To name just a few, the MI5 building was demolished (see my previous entry), the White Lion pub re-opened after a face lift, and a couple of cab offices changed their look and owner as well.

Thinking of all the changes reminded me of the role photography plays in documenting the world we live in- the images we take today are interesting now but will be increasingly fascinating as time goes by.

Airport Services

Cosy Cars becomes Southside Cars

Unexpected meanings

When taking back some prints to one of the newsagents on Streatham High Road last week, I got talking with the owner a bit more about the Road and my project. We were talking about history when I learnt that the name of his shop “Indus” was actually chosen for a reason, which had not been apparent to me.

I was utterly unaware that there is a 3,180km-long river called “Indus” which originates in the Tibetan plateau and merges into the Arabian Sea near Karachi, Pakistan. In ancient times this river was known as Sindhus river and, hence, one of the provinces along the river was given the name Sindh. Sindh is a prosperous province in the southeast of Pakistan, and historically this province is home to the Sindhis, a socio-ethnic group of people with their own language- Sindhi.

Being Sindhi and living thousands of miles away from his family and cultural roots, the name of his shop represents one of the links to Sultan’s roots and, moreover, it represents a subtle hint to the ethnic diversity of Streatham High Road.

Obstacles

This summer, it seems, Streatham High Road (SHR) has seen more than its normal share of street works. The construction site replacing worn-out Victorian mains, which slowly makes its way north from the Norbury end and the environmental improvement works between Becmead Avenue and Woodbourne Avenue have caused incredible traffic jams.

When photographing along SHR, there have always been times in the day when it was quite challenging to get a good shop front picture without a car being in the way. However, now there are some stretches on the High Road where the traffic hardly ever breaks up and taking pictures of some shops and buildings has become extremely difficult and frustrating.

I still think that SHR is more than a traffic-choked drive-thru road but there are days when I am in despair because I just don’t manage to get the shot I need.

However, all this is for a higher good I know- to reduce the leakage of water and to transform SHR to a better place for pedestrians and cyclists . Therefore, I do my best to be understanding and patient in the meantime…and please forgive me for swearing when yet another car was in the way of my perfect shot...

Thiago

When shooting on SHR one night last week I by chance ran into Thiago who is one of the street cleaners working on the High Road.

Being from Brazil originally, Thiago has been in London for about a year. He has a degree in history from a Brazilian university and came to London to do a masters in Biblical Archaeology. While improving his English and waiting for the paper work for the course to be completed he, like most of us, needs to earn a living. So, when somebody told him that street cleaners are in short supply that is the job he went for. Hence, Thiago is one of the street cleaners team now, and several days of the week you find him being out there in his uniform, looking after the cleanliness of the High Road, being happy and cheerful.

Appreciation

Streatham High Road has several quite distinct sections one of which has a strong African influence with the majority of people working in the shops here and living in the flats above being from Somalia and Algeria. This stretch of road is characterised by small and independent shops- many with a colourful shop front.

To thank people for their participation in the project I usually take prints back after taking their portrait or after taking pictures of their shops. Doing this I have noticed that particularly in this area of the High Road the shop owners and/or the people working in the shops are very happy and proud of their shop when they look at the pictures I give them - often they keep the print(s) in a visible location in the shop. When taking back pictures there are sometimes also small surprises such as Lal kindly offering a few pieces of fruit from his shop as a sign of appreciation for the prints – a very nice gesture indeed.

Top Secret

Looking like a very ordinary British high road at first sight, Streatham High Road has its fair share of surprises when looking a little closer. One of these surprises is a building, which isn’t anymore - 512-522 Streatham High Road. According to locals and www.secret-bases.co.uk this used to be the address of MI5’s car servicing depot for many years, “hidden” in the very public and ordinary surroundings of Streatham High Road. However, the days of Streatham’s “top secret” building are over and in June 2009 the building was demolished. The new development will be a very ordinary one indeed- a Self Storage facility. One could say the secrets remain – this time of a more personal kind rather than the government…

Why?

When shooting on Streatham High Road many people ask me: “Why? Why are you doing a project on Streatham High Road?”

People seem to be astonished and surprised and some even paranoid as to what I am doing. While you can read about my predominant reason for doing a project on Streatham High Road in my first blog entry, I also realized at one point that by doing the project on Streatham High Road (SHR) Streatham began to feel much more like my community- a place where I recognise people, say “hello”, smile and have a brief chat with one or the other person. To me this comes as a bit of a surprise in a big city such as London but it shows that in fact the majority of people around us are very approachable and that in a way we are all the same. Hence, coming out of ones shell and engaging with our surroundings no matter where we live is very much worthwhile - it makes our neighbourhood a friendlier and more positive place to be.

Have a look below at some of the wonderful people I have met on SHR!

Selina

Isabelle

Lawson
Dean and Tom
Alfie
Sylvia and Barbara
Nevel
Mbark
Yvonne
David
Bruce
Phoebe
Andy
Iqra and Ama
Mr and Mrs Patel
Michelle
Arthur
Jasmina and Adam
Yvette
Adnan and Sevengul
Sheila