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Up My Street by Dylan Collard

Photography

Posted by Eliza Williams, 14 September 2011, 17:03    Permalink    Comments (7)

Photographer Dylan Collard has created this series of images, titled Up My Street, which capture a selection of north London's more charismatic independent shop owners in their place of work.

The images are all shot on Junction Road, between Kentish Town and Archway, and are styled to capture the individuality of the traders. Shown above is Mr Mahmood from QuickSilver Dry Cleaners, and the series also includes the owners of various clothes shops, including a vintage wedding dress shop, as well as a Singer sewing machine shopkeeper.

Dawn and Mike from The Blue Carbuncle, a vintage clothing and collectables shop

Collard has lived in the local area for almost 15 years, so knows these stores, and their owners, well. "I have always been intrigued by local life around my home in north London and the shopkeepers in particular caught my eye," he says. "They are the ones who give our high streets real soul and personality, which is why I wanted to make them the focus of my latest project."

Liz from Elizabeth Avery Vintage Wedding Dresses

Michael from Blustons Fashions

Despite the personality and sense of the community they bring to the neighbourhood, a number of the shops in Collard's images are under threat, with the Blue Carbuncle on a rolling contract due to the threat of redevelopment, and both that store and Elizabeth Avery Vintage Wedding Dresses hit by large rate increases that may push them out of the area.

Tony from the Singer sewing machine shop

Collard took these images using a classic 1920s Gandolfi camera. He is represented by Vue, and more of his work can be seen online at vue-us.com.

 

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7 Comments

I love the relationship between the separate shops - you could just imagine them referring their customers to one another. The Blue Carbuncle look like a real treasure trove. Nicely captured!
Design Harrogate
2011-09-14 17:51:08

We truly are a nation of shopkeepers.
Eccentric and wonderfully British!

While its very intriguing to peer in to peoples lives à la 'Hello' magazine,
It's nothing we've not seen before, and feels a bit like a student project.

Would have been more interesting to seem them unposed and more candid in their natural habitats!
Curator
2011-09-14 18:47:34

Love it.
I has a tresor feel to it reminding me of the days I was living in north london too, always enjoyed walking those streets.
faycal
2011-09-14 22:35:28

This is great! I had a very similar idea for the London Villages Project (http://www.londonvillagesproject.org.uk/) but have, as yet, failed to do anything about it.

It would be worth getting in touch with the LVP, as this project would be perfect for it.
Tom Storr
2011-09-15 09:42:04

Outstanding!

I really enjoy the shop environments and how the people just seem to fit it. The lighting is warm and inviting.
Very approachable.
Rick
2011-09-15 15:33:12

I know these shops and most of their owners and Dylan has captured their everyday working lives beautifully.

I can confirm that the Blue Carbuncle is closing in 3 weeks time and Elizabeth Avery Vintage Wedding Dresses has already gone, due to the council putting up the business rates by 30%, Liz has set up a studio and will no longer have a shop front and Dawn and Mike are giving up their business to start something new.

It's a real shame that independent businesses aren't supported more by the council in our neighbourhood. I for one use 4 or 5 shops to do my grocery shopping, rather than use one of the big name supermarkets and I know that plenty of my neighbours do the same.

Rant over, enjoy the pictures as the real thing won't be there forever.
Linda White
2011-09-16 22:14:48

Love these photos. Completely disagree with the earlier comment that said 'seen it all before'. Masterful control of light, colour and subject like this is not easy to achieve. The photographer's style brings a depth to the portraits, and makes you wonder about the drama of these people's lives all the more as their real environments become like theatrical sets. I can imagine them being used as the basis for a set of short stories.
Xtina Lamb
2011-09-19 15:14:06

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