PEOPLE FROM EVERY NATION CAN BE FOUND IN LONDON THE WORLDâS MOST CULTURALLY DIVERSE CITY. HERE IN A THREE-YEAR PRO-
JECT CHRIS STEELE-PERKINS IS MAKING PORTRAITS OF MIGRANT FAMILIES â FROM ESTONIA TO ECUADOR â IN THEIR OWN LIVING ROOMSARMCHAIR TRAVELLERS
ILLUSTRATION: RODERICK MILLSIt is amazing to think that not so long ago in London one could
find signs informing possible tenants: âNo Blacks No Irish No
Dogs...â In a mere half-century the capital has become the most
culturally diverse metropolis on the planet. Indeed the whole world
is in London living here working here being here. Instead of a
âswarmâ of migrants triggering social collapse and rivers of blood
the city moves from strength to strength. Of course there are prob-
lems frictions but when in the warp of history has that not been so?
How as a photographer to address these changes? The tradi-
tional way is to investigate one of these new dimensions in depth:
African churches say or Lebanese restaurants. But I wanted to
document the scale of this diversity so I decided to photograph
people that have come here from every country in the world.
Specifically families in their homes because they signify if not
necessarily permanence certainly a more engaged presence than
a tourist passing through. It also makes the work exponentially
more difficult. Why on earth would anyone let a stranger with a
camera come in and disrupt their inner sanctum?
But they do once theyâve got the message. I am using the UN
list of 193 member states as my basis and adding some like Tibet
as I go along. But first I have to find the families. The internet is
essential to my work â most countries have websites for the com-
munity in the UK if not in London. Countries have restaurants;
they have cultural groups community centres and Facebook pages.
Flyers in libraries and adverts in local newspapers â the old ana-
logue world â can often be rewarding. The Peckham Peculiar was
particularly fruitful. Then there are friends and friends of friends- the reach extends rapidly. I have given myself three years to
complete the project and am now almost halfway through.
Waiting for the doorbell to be answered with my assistant is a
bit like going on stage... nervous tension. What will they be like?
Ditto the apartment or house. Pets? Sometimes I am met by baf-
fled husbands asking: âSo whatâs this for then?â their wives or
daughters insisting they have been told many times. I wander
about scanning the room looking at the faces checking the light
weighing up how the kids will behave accepting or declining
cups of tea. Sometimes there are just two of them â a couple or a
mother (usually) and child â and sometimes there are 15 people
crammed into a small room. Aunts cousins nephews grannies
dogs boyfriends busy taking and posting camera-phone photos
as they tell each other to settle down. Once Iâve finished I con-
duct a short interview to accompany the portrait and later send
the family a few digital files and a signed print.
I love the randomness of this work. Thursday 5pm: the Leetmaa
family â a sturdy group of women from Estonia who run a UK-
based Russian-language magazine. Friday 6pm: Melanie and Jamie
Yurt from Malaysia and Turkey respectively with their daughter
Liala. Sunday 12 noon: the Obradovices â a Serbian electrical
engineer his nurse wife and their two musical sons. Later while
editing I flash past Joe the Nigerian who addressed me as Sir; and
Natalia from Ecuador who wanted a guitar to be visible in the
frame to symbolise her late husband.
It may be hubris but I want these photographs to last and in
order to do that they must be something more than just a group
of anonymous people smiling. Each session is a piece of theatre
and I try to develop a tableau where light geometry expression
and posture are choreographed in a space particular to my sub-
jects. Yet sometimes when they take a break they relax and that
may be when the situation comes together for the perfect shot as
their own natural chemistry takes over $
To see Chrisâs work visit chrissteeleperkins.com. If you live in London and
would like to be involved email [email protected]JOURNAL OF A PHOTOGRAPHER