26 July 2019: working as a commercial photographer introduces you to all kinds of people and on this day I got to know a group of people I wouldn’t otherwise meet.
I’m in London for The Prince’s Trust meeting a group of four people who have been involved with gang crime. It’s for a campaign by The Trust called Amplified which is to focus attention of issues affecting young people.
The brief was to shoot, “gritty, urban images to set the scene – and our young people’s positive, empowering personalities and stories to shine through.”
Taking the ‘gritty’ and ‘urban’ as the main themes we find a condom-littered back-alley location near Euston Station. It’s soon clear it’s not right. These people have moved on from their pasts. They are now in employment, they run their own businesses, they are proud. The location doesn’t fit with who they now are.
Thankfully we’re near Regent’s Park so we quickly head there and the group are immediately more relaxed. They’re a really fun bunch and easy to work with. We shoot some images there before moving on to a café.
This was a group of strong-willed, confident people who have moved on from their past and wanted the photography to show this.