Exhibition: About A Strand by Lewis Phillips

The exhibition is set in the most appropriate of settings at the Crypt, St Martin in the Fields. Unlike most portrait exhibitions it touched on emotional and physical being. The black and white photographs express a range of feelings in the faces of the individuals living and surviving on one of London’s most affluent streets.

Mr Philips interviews each person and documents their personal story with a short biography which is placed beside each thought provoking and powerful image. He was warned about the possible mis-trust and aggressive response he might receive while out doing his research by one of the people he spoke to. The reasons behind their situation are issues that could affect anyone of us such as family breakdowns, unemployment, alcoholism, drug addiction, mental health, and bereavement. Other predicaments came in the form of the end of social services care, and the end of military service to mention a few. The content is a true and raw reality of the situation in many of our cities in Britain today, and also a reminder that homelessness could happen to anyone at any time.

This exhibition is a tool that visually keeps the issue of homelessness and mental health issues in the public eye, as it is a growing phenomenon in 2015 that needs to be addressed by local authorities, the health service, the government and local communities.

St Matins-in –the-Fields, Trafalgar Square, London, WC2 N4JJ

FREE entrance