Gillett Square Stories

Abstract

This article by Future Hackney and the Gillett Square Community in London creates a new space for urban documentary work through a participatory project and collaborative authorship. The co-authors of the project are the photographers and the people depicted in the photographs, who also speak through the captions, allowing a wider definition of the auteur. Traditionally documentary photography involves one auteur, often male and an outsider. Wayne and I (Don Travis) are the photographers and we live and grew up around the areas we document and are therefore a part of the community that we engage and collaborate with. Future Hackney has spent the last four years working alongside residents to create images and oral histories of the Caribbean and African communities. This resulted in ‘Gillett Square Stories’ as a space of radical history through the Black experience and a living archive of memories and experiences, connecting past and present. The images and captions presented here express the rich stories of one inner London area that help explain our city’s post and present colonial history.

Keywords:

• documentary
• co-authorship
• inner city
• post-colonial
• storytelling
• photography

Acknowledgements

Supported by National Lottery Community & Heritage Funds, Hackney Council, Hackney Co-operative Developments, The Weavers Company, London Unseen (Mayor of London’s Commission for Diversity in the Public Realm) and NTS Radio.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Funding

This study was supported by The Heritage Lottery.

Notes on contributors

Don Travis

Don Travis has a background in documentary photography, urban visual arts and community. Email: [email protected]

Wayne Crichlow

Wayne Crichlow is a photographer and has a connection with the communities we document. Email: [email protected]

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