CARNIVAL Alan Powdrill

Hackney in east London has a long history of multi culturalism and diversity as well as being one of the most economically challenged areas in the UK. There is a high number of deprived areas and council housing estates. Traditionally left wing with one of the largest Labour majorities in the country, Hackney has always had an edge and attitude that makes it unique in London. In ironic contrast, it’s now a desirable hot spot of gentrification with eye watering house prices and an economy that’s forcing many born and bred locals to leave the area.

My photographs were shot at Hackney Carnival last year and worked on recently. Carnival in Hackney is traditionally a time of release, celebration and excess. My photographs are the antithesis this, images that reflect years of austerity, people who have been marginalised in a society where the divide between the have’s and have not’s gets wider and wider. Cancelled this year like most events, Hackney Carnival will be missed, unlike the next wave of economic pain that’s about to descend on the borough.