Broadway Market

in London's East End has long reflected the shifting story of the city. The turning point came in 2001, when Hackney Council discovered a £72 million deficit and began selling off commercial property, displacing long-standing traders and triggering what became known as The Battle of Broadway Market. Tony Platia ran Café Francesca for thirty years before his rent was raised by more than a thousand per cent. I photographed him two days before his eviction and sat with him and local residents to resist the bailiffs, who arrived before dawn with police. Spirit Grant had invested years and around £40,000 restoring a derelict site on the market, only to see it sold; he later sued Hackney for breach of contract and was evicted. He passed away in 2018.

Between 2002 and 2006, I photographed more than 500 residents, traders, and visitors in a portrait booth at the revived Saturday market and on the streets around it. The work culminated in a 2006 exhibition at Seven Seven Gallery featuring Portrait Obscura, a projection machine built with my then-partner Georgie Clarke that turned participants into part of the show. The installation later entered the collection of Hackney Museum.