Sparking awareness and challenging perceptions surrounding Tottenham and young black masculinity through unfiltered imagery
The area I grew up in, Tottenham, has a vibrant, multi-cultural and tight knitted community, but has been overshadowed by negative connotations, consisting of stories surrounding gang violence and crime, particularly the riots of 1985 and 2011.
This was a personal project to reflect deep, socio-political history in a simple but powerful way.
I decided on a short series of photographs.
The model/friend in these photographs lives on the Broadwater Farm Estate; one of the key areas in Tottenham, that has suffered from the negative history of the 1985 Broadwater Farm uprisings/riots and ongoing drug abuse, violence and police brutality. Growing up amongst this trauma, even if you are not involved directly, can have its subconscious affects, from anxiety, to paranoia and stress. Prior to approaching this project, I did not want to give any directions or context to the model, as I wanted him to simply present his most honest self to the camera, without any preconceived ideas about how he might have felt I wanted him to pose. I did this in hope that the natural way in which the model presented himself for the camera, would also reflect his instinctive approach to black masculinity.
