Joyce Edwards’ Squatter Portraits
John the Fox, 1978
Half a century ago, documentary photographer Joyce Edwards (1925-2024) took these tender portraits of squatters who inhabited empty houses in the triangle of streets next to Victoria Park which had been vacated for the sake of a proposed inner city motorway that was never built. Her pictures are now being shown publicly for the first time at Four Corners in Bethnal Green in an exhibition entitled, Joyce Edwards: A Story Of Squatters, which opens tomorrow and runs until Saturday 20th March.
Joyce Edwards, 1980
Harold the Kangaroo, painter, with his dog Captain Beefheart, 1978
Billy Cowden, Joy Rigard & Jamie, 1978
Henry Woolf, actor, 1974
Beverly Spacie, 1977
Anthony & Andrew Minion, 1980
Elizabeth Shepherd, actor, c. 1970
John Peat, painter,1979
Gary Chamberlin, Beverly Spacie & Howard Dillon, 1977
Julia Clement, 1978
Vanessa Swann & Baz O’ Connell, 1979
Matthew Simmons, 1978
Shirley Robbins, 1977
Tosh Parker, 1977
Sue, 1977
Father & son, 1976
103 Bishops Way E2, Co-op headquarters, 1978
Attempted eviction, 1978
Joyce Edwards, 2012
Photographs copyright © Estate of Joyce Edwards
Joyce Edwards: A Story Of Squatters is at Four Corners, 121 Roman Rd, E2 0QN. Friday 13th February until Saturday 20th March (Wednesday to Saturday, 11am – 6pm)
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People need a life .
These people deserve it.
Andy
Beautifully observed portraits sharing the essence of humanity.
Joyce Edwards’ squatter portraits resonate deeply with me; they remind me of the vibrant stories I’ve encountered in communities I’ve lived in.
I remember John Peat
Fascinating images from the midst of vibrant life. And at the same time, you can smell the danger and fear …
Love & Peace
ACHIM
These tender portraits of young and creative people evoke a time when it was possible to come to London, live on little, while trying to make your way in your chosen career. Or whatever came along. The absence of such opportunities for cheap, fluid living means its almost impossible for young people to live in a major city, without a well paid job . Or indulgent parents. Or both.
Beautiful portraits, reminds me of St Agnes Place, Kennington (sadly raised to the ground a number of years back) and Bonnington Square, Vauxhall (still standing) where I lived in the mid 1980s. Sadly it’s impossible to live in cities on the cheap these days.
Brilliant work from Joyce Edwards. How I never heard of her work I don’t know. These portraits are exactly what portrait work should embody. It’s all about the subject. Unfortunately for me, it’s a long way from Toronto so I won’t be able to take this show in.
Amazing quality of photography – they look like they could have been taken last week.
So very evocative. I was young in 1979. What struck me is the beauty of these young people. And that brought to mind finding a photograph of my aunt, uncharacteristically smiling. For some reason she never smiled for the camera.
“But you look beautiful!” I exclaimed.
Dismissively, she replied, “All young people are beautiful!”
I was once beautiful, too. Ah, what happened?
Squatting is a phenomenon that fascinates. The artists who moved into abandoned loft buildings in New York’s SoHo were surely squatting. I don’t think it happens anymore in New York, though god knows it could be justified easily. I have just finished a mystery set in Bath wherein squatting was used as a plot device. It cleared up some misconceptions I had about the subject. At least I think it did.
An article or book about the legal determinations that cover protections would be very interesting to read.
Ah, fleeting youth! My ravaged ruin!
Happy Valentine’s to the universe! That includes you, too!
Bless all Ms. Edward’s subjects. I hope they all found fulfillment.
Gentle author, I did not make clear that my aunt’s photograph was fifty years old when I came upon it, thirty years ago.To not clear that up might give the impression that my aunt may have been roughly my near contemporary in age, and that she may have been congratulating us both for our luck in genetics, a luck still apparent. Not so! She spoke from the advantage of seniority.
Really, all that sounds boring. Sorry. Why not scrap my responses?
Oh wow.what memories