Assignment 01

Spring is here and its time to shake off the winter blues and get busy. One such project is a Photojournalism course I am doing at the London College of Communication (University of the Arts London).

Assignment 01 is for the LCC newspaper and an article about the Elephant & Castle market. The LCC news story is about the multi-billion pound regeneration programme taking place locally that will transform the area. There is some doubt about the future of the Elephant & Castle Market, with no defined plan to relocate or rehouse the market.

The man in the picture is Jamal Uddin who runs a handbag and leather stall. He has had a stall in the market for the past 7 years, 6 years of which the future of the market has been in doubt. Although Jamal is unsure what this will mean for his livelyhood, he says 'business is down...' especially for the past three months. Jamal has not been given any indication or timeline for the shopping centre redevelopment adjacent to which the market is currently located. He remains philosophical and thinks 'the redevelopment is well overdue' pointing out how run-down and dirty the current location is. He is optomistic that a new location or facility will be forthcoming as he points out 'where else can people get bargains like this?'.

For now the market is still a busy centre, if not as busy and prosperous as it once was. Only time and the will of the redevelopment programme will determine the fate of the market as the area undergoes its dramatic transformation.