For the past 6 months I have been living in Peckham in south east London. Due to the ongoing lockdowns it has been difficult to get properly involved or embedded in the local community, however I have been a passionate observer of the debates and divisions in the area. This recent series of illustrations aims to capture the feeling of the area during the national lockdown.
Background
Peckham has gone through huge changes in its history - from a small, peaceful village centred around Peckham Rye park in the 1800s, to a heavily developed urban environment from the 1960s onward. For many years it was one of the most deprived residential areas in Western Europe with high levels of unemployment, crime and gang activity.
It is also one of the most ethnically diverse areas of the UK. As well as the white working class residents famed by the series Only Fools And Horses, Peckham is home to large Nigerian and Afro Caribbean communities. Other residents originate from Bangladesh, India, Pakistan, Afghanistan and Indonesia.
A Tale of Two Worlds
Currently, like many areas of London, Peckham is experiencing a steady tide of 'gentrification'. In recent years, the area has seen a huge influx of young, middle class, largely white families. This has created two very different worlds which awkwardly exist side by side.
One minute you can be surrounded by the sounds and smells of Caribbean food stalls, black teenagers on BMX bikes and small, unnamed shops selling everything from buckets to Afro hair products. Then, as soon as you leave Rye Lane, you cross an invisible border. Suddenly the streets are lined with yoga studios, upmarket wine bars and middle class mothers pushing expensive pushcairs as they sip soy milk lattés.
I have felt conflicted about the area whilst living here. Some say the newer, wealthy residents of Peckham will 'improve' the area and bring jobs and opportunities. However, as the area becomes gentrified, house prices and commercial rents will inevitably rise, forcing those with lower incomes out of the area. And where will they go? London is rapidly becoming a city exclusively for the rich.
The lockdown(s) may have accelerated this trend. Rye Lane is already plastered with 'To Let' signs as small shops are forced to permanently close, whilst many businesses in the more affluent parts have simply switched to 'Click and Collect' via their shiny new websites.
Illustrations
Before I leave Peckham I wanted to capture this bleak moment in time and this place that seems on the brink of huge change.
Old packaging and printed signage form the images' collage background, over which acrylic paint, oil pastel and ink add distressed layers. Shuttered shops, grafittied alleys, a jumble of 'To Let' signs and urban decay create the backdrop to lone figures shuffling along deserted streets, still surviving, still clinging on.
Although the images are heavy with despair, I hope they also convey a certain beauty and hint at the tenacity and strength of the human spirit which somehow prevails against all odds. I hope and pray that the unique character and spirit of Peckham will survive the current economic challenges and the strong tide of gentrification. Time will tell...
