{"id":11143,"date":"2020-08-03T08:49:00","date_gmt":"2020-08-03T08:49:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/re-photo.co.uk\/?p=11143"},"modified":"2020-08-02T10:54:13","modified_gmt":"2020-08-02T10:54:13","slug":"brixton-feb-1987-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/re-photo.co.uk\/?p=11143","title":{"rendered":"Brixton Feb 1987"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\n\"Celestial<\/a>\n<\/div>
Celestial Church of Christ, Coldharbour Lane, Brixton, Lambeth, 1987 <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Friends and others I showed pictures to at the time or talked about my work with often expressed surprise at some of the areas of London I went to when taking photographs. They saw places like Brixton as crime-ridden and dangerous and wondered that I felt safe, particularly as I was walking around the streets carrying a bag with expensive equipment worth thousands of pounds on my shoulder.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\"Beds,<\/a>\n<\/div>
Beds, Coldharbour Lane, Loughborough Junction, Brixton, Lambeth, 1987<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

I did think a little about it myself and even once attended a training session – the only man in a group of women – about keeping safe on city streets. But the only times I ever really felt threatened were not in the kind of areas that some reacted with horror to, but in lonelier parts of the plusher suburbs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\"Furniture,<\/a>\n<\/div>
Furniture, Coldharbour Lane, Loughborough Junction, Brixton Lambeth, 1987<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

I felt more at home in the many working-class areas of London than in the West End or City, and certainly dressed in a way that fitted in more there. I tried hard to be aware of my surroundings and not to behave in ways that drew attention to myself. And I think I was reasonably street-wise, keeping calm and confident, looking as if I knew what I was doing and where I was going and being aware of others. There were a few times when I decided against going down a particular street or alley, or crossed the street to avoid possible trouble. Because I needed the light I always worked during the day time, when all areas are safer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\"White<\/a>\n<\/div>
White goods, Coldharbour Lane, Loughborough Junction, Brixton, Lambeth, 1987<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Of course taking photographs does make you stand out, but mostly people just ignored me. A few would stop and talk, and I tried to explain why I was taking a picture, though I think they mostly thought I was mad but harmless. Some people thought I must be from the council – or the newspapers, and occasionally people – particularly children – would insist I took there picture. Of course I did.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\"Flats,<\/a>\n<\/div>
Flats, Coldharbour Lane, Brixton, Lambeth, 1987<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\n\"Burroughs,<\/a>\n<\/div>
Burroughs, Coldharbour Lane, Brixton, Lambeth, 1987<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

‘Burroughs’ closed as an Eel and Pie shop in the 1990s, but remains as a restaurant. Its shop-front had been replaced by something flat and bland but was recreated a few years ago, and it now serves Japanese soul food rather than cockney.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There are a few more pictures from this area in February 1987 in the album 1987 London Photos<\/a>. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Friends and others I showed pictures to at the time or talked about my work with often expressed surprise at some of the areas of London I went to when taking photographs. They saw places like Brixton as crime-ridden and dangerous and wondered that I felt safe, particularly as I was walking around the streets … Continue reading Brixton Feb 1987<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[13,3],"tags":[2256,2439,379,2442,1885,2148,1596,2440,17,1343,2443,2441],"class_list":["post-11143","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-londonphotos","category-my-own-work","tag-2256","tag-beds","tag-brixton","tag-burroughs","tag-church","tag-coldharbour-lane","tag-flats","tag-furniture","tag-london","tag-london-photos","tag-pie-and-mash","tag-white-goods"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/re-photo.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11143","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/re-photo.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/re-photo.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/re-photo.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/re-photo.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=11143"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"http:\/\/re-photo.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11143\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":11146,"href":"http:\/\/re-photo.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11143\/revisions\/11146"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/re-photo.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=11143"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/re-photo.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=11143"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/re-photo.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=11143"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}