I’m from a proudly working-class family who have lived on the same council estate on the Old Kent Road for 50+ years and during that time, inevitably, the area has become subject to gentrification. Despite this, it has, against all odds, maintained a diverse working-class population. It’s this, plus elements including the Old Kent Road’s working-class heritage and the class imbalance in the industry that I either want to document, celebrate or comment on.
‘Knocked ‘Em in the Old Kent Road’ – named after the 1890’s Music Hall song of the same name – is made up of 12 candid street portraits contained in a concertina book and organised by direction: starting from the left and making their way back towards the right, in reference to the pilgrimage through the area in Geoffrey Chaucer’s ‘The Canterbury Tales.’