some things i’ve discovered about whitechapel…

i’ve been interviewing local people in whitechapel - residents, commuters, visitors to the hospital or market - for a week now. these are some of the things they’ve shared with me about their patch of london.

“you come out of the tube and it’s just this maelstrom of people.”

“it’s got a character all of its own. in this area you can totally be whoever you want to be.”

“you’re walking around and you’re trying to miss the globs of gob on the pavement, and inbetween the globs of gob are chicken bones everywhere.”

“i love it. it’s grubby and it’s grungy and it’s not posh at all, and i love that about it.”

“it’s got a very distinct character of its own, but it’s beginning to change.”

“it’s never quiet; there’s always something going on.”

“i feel very in control my life here; i feel like i’m living the life that i’m meant to be living.”

“whitechapel’s whitechapel; there’s nowhere else like it.”

tea, cake and bramble the goat

it’s saturday afternoon, and i can’t believe my first week has already whizzed by. it’s been incredibly exciting to meet so many new people, all of whom have been so generous with their time and thoughts. over the past few days i’ve hung out at the market, where the stall holders have shared both stories and flasks of delicious spiced tea. (they told me it would be just like my father makes it - and, dad, they were right!) i’ve stroked bayleaf the donkey, and chatted to the delightful, funny and committed children at spitalfields farm young farmers’ club. and i’ve consumed some very tasty cake provided by the kind owners of fresh coffee, while they told me about the huge diversity of people who come through their doors. it’s been a whirlwind of interviews, maps and portraits; new connections and intriguing stories, as i begin to uncover what lies beneath whitechapel’s surface.

first week in residence!

kamala here… it’s been a frantic and fantastic first week at the gift shop - much like whitechapel itself! i’ve interviewed midwives at the royal london, sampled the famously delicious fare at tayyabs, and chatted away to locals at the urban bar. while i’ve recorded interviews and captured some of the area’s iconic sounds, esther has snapped away, collecting images of the people we meet and things we see. everything from first time parents doting over their brand new bundles of joy, to construction sites and strangely alluring post boxes. and then there are the maps. a little bemused, but with good humour, everyone i’ve spoken to so far has added their patch of whitechapel to the collection. it’s a myriad of unique perspectives on what makes whitechapel tick.

tracing whitechapel. first day of photography

tracing whitechapel

tracing: the act of drawing a plan or diagram or outline / a drawing created by superimposing a semitransparent sheet of paper on the original image and copying on it the lines of the original image / the discovery and description of the course of development of something

you are now leaving our city, we hope you enjoyed your visit

click on image to play movie

it seems appropriate to bid ms binks bon voyage using the above frame. it was how my involvement with her residency began… i was responsible for getting the saw and drill. i arrived on my bike at the hardware shop and twenty minutes later, we gaffer taped the saw, and the drill, to my back, and front, and i rode off awkwardly down whitechapel high street much to the delight of the early, or late (depending how you look at it) clubbers. as with each residency, the opportunity to help the artist is as exhilarating as seeing the work itself.
travel well (the) katy binks.