New photography exhibition celebrates the locals of Ridley Road
Arts collective Future Hackney spent the last three years documenting the social life of Ridley Road. Image credit: Wayne Crichlow
In 2017, a group of visual storytellers set out to document the beating cultural heart of Dalston.
Three years of work have now come to fruition with an outdoor photography exhibition. Last week, arts collective Future Hackney—dedicated to chronicling social change in local spaces—launched the first of a multi-part series called Ridley Road Stories.
Ten photographs are currently on display at the Red Cross Building on Dalston Lane. The environmental portraits feature residents who live and work on the street, and who form the backbone of Ridley Road.
Local seamstress, model and video creator Elvine Ohlala in an outfit she fashioned out of material sourced from Ridley Road. Image credit: Chris Andreou
The project also spotlights the African and Caribbean communities that have long breathed life into the market street. While Future Hackney co-founder Donna Travis acknowledged the rich multicultural make-up of Ridley Road, she felt these two groups in particular have a long-standing “historic and cultural presence”.
“It’s about representation for the locals,” said Travis, who grew up in and still lives around the area. “Instead of having just wealthy advertisements on our walls, we should have images of ourselves.”
She added that everyone photographed had been “consulted” before the exhibition went live. “We want the community to be a part of the creative process, rather than just being a subject.”
Ridley Road Stories (Part One) offers free admission and will remain on show for a year.
Ridley Road Stories celebrates the African and Caribbean communities that work and live on the historic market street. Image credit: Brunel Johnson
Plans to launch part two on Ridley Road itself are already underway. “We’ve got the funding so we’re just waiting on Hackney Council to give us the go-ahead,” Travis confirmed.