A series of street photography and collectively improvised stories.
Captured by Eileen Xinyi Kang and brought to life by peers, educators, and guests at the University of the Arts London.
About this project
On the many dérives I’ve embarked on, practicing some serious noticing, I’ve found myself hopelessly fascinated by the people of London. Enormous varieties of lifestyles, cultures, ages, and ambitions intermingle in the same streets, and in an attempt to capture the essence of these cultural contributors, I’ve taken up street photography with my Pentax Espio 70 on Kodak UltraMax 400 film. The limited capabilities of shooting film on a point-and-shoot camera make composition and narrative the focus when taking photos, unlike on a digital or phone camera.
In these photos, the temporal, auditory, and spatial context around each shot build a story around each photograph at the moment of capture. However, I found that when showing these photos to others, it was far more interesting to hear what people thought the stories were instead of telling them what I’d actually observed. Just like how each person, business, cuisine, and building adds to the mosaic of London, the following stories paired with each photo are speculations and fabrications pulled from the individual imaginations of each participant. Through an improv-inspired tag-team approach to storytelling, they build a fantastic world around each real-life snapshot.
1.
After seeing the rent prices in the area, he steals the bike to sell to pay his next month’s rent. Turns out, this bike is a rare piece of street art and a warrant is now out for this man’s arrest.
2.
I don’t even know. He’s pushing over the couch because he’s in a couch-pushing relay race and he’s losing. The goal is to get the couch to the apartment first. He sees the 50 other men in front of him and he decides to take the cushions off to make it easier. This counts as cheating. He’s disqualified.
3.
Covid just hit, and this man is sanitizing his boat. This is actually poisoning the canal. The government comes and eats all the fish. Poisoned.
4.
She’s leaving her friend a voice note on what subject of book she’s gonna buy . She’s wondering why there’s nothing on Solarpunk, but she’s happy to buy the Psychology of Diesel. She hates diesel. She’s an eco-warrior.
5.
His name is Barney, from Barnet Grove. He’s a famous graffiti artist. He likes electric skateboards, and he’s proud of his ability to remember where he comes from (all caps), but now he’s wondering where he’s gonna go next as he books a flight to Tenerife.
6.
Acting like he’s cleaning something, in reality he just broke an important piece of his boat. It’s the toilet. Now he must use the river. The people swimming in the river get really sick afterward and sue him. He flees the country on his speedboat and forgets his sunglasses at his mom’s house, along with his kitchen and toilet rolls.
Acting like he’s cleaning something, in reality he just broke an important piece of his boat. It’s the toilet. Now he must use the river. The people swimming in the river get really sick afterward and sue him. He flees the country on his speedboat and forgets his sunglasses at his mom’s house, along with his kitchen and toilet rolls.