Richard

Richard came to the UK from Jamaica 70 years ago when he was just 5-years old. His dad was a carpenter, and the family set up home in Birmingham.

Richard still remembers his dad keeping chickens in the back garden just like everybody did back home. His dad would put the chicken in a box with a hole in it, so the chicken's head stuck out. He'd then cut off the head and wait for the fluttering to die down before plucking the feathers. Richard remembers eating the same chicken that night.

Richard was the only black kid at school. His actual first name is Rashford but the school decided to give him the English name Richard. He’s never since heard anyone else called Rashford until recently when he heard the surname of the Manchester United footballer Marcus Rashford.

Richard enjoyed school, he said it was brilliant when he was small because young kids don't see race…. 'The problems only start when kids get older.'

As a teenager, he was a very good footballer. He did trials for Coventry.

Sadly, his dad, who was a strict man and kept Richard on the straight and narrow, died young, and after that, Richard 'went a bit wild' and messed up his football career. Sir Jimmy Hill, the manager in those days, dropped him because he wasn't taking the training seriously enough. 

Richard was also an apprentice aeronautics inspector, but without his dad around, he messed that up too.

Richard loved nightlife and moved down to London.

In Lewisham, South London, he got chatting to reggae singer Desmond Decker and his backing band 'The Aces.' They said that Richard could drive the van, and after a while, he became their roadie and travelled all over Europe with the band. Unsurprisingly, he had a lot of fun. He met Mick Jagger and The Tremolos, and through the band, met his wife June, a nurse, who was the sister of the reggae singer Carl St Clair.

Richard said that the trouble with working with stars is that you develop a star's lifestyle, even though you are just a roadie on a roadies wages. 

'You are in Carnaby Street, and someone in the band buys an expensive shirt, and you do the same. The trouble is that they can afford it, and you can't'. After coming home from another tour with no money because he'd spent it all, he got 'a civilian job' working as an engineer on London Transport. He did this for 24 years before getting his current position at the British Museum, where he has worked for the last 28. 

Even his time here has been eventful. Once Nelson Mandela did a tour of the museum that ended with an inspiring speech. As he was leaving, Richard got a chance to talk to Mr. Mandela. He told him that it was such an honour to meet him and that he wished that he could remember all the things he had said in his speech. Mr. Mandela nodded, shook Richard's hand, and left. A few weeks later, Richard received a brown envelope containing a transcript of the speech. 

In the 70 years that he’s lived in Britain, Richard has never been back to Jamaica - judging by the above, he probably just hasn't had the time.

LEN

Len is 73 and back in the day, he worked as a bouncer. He worked at the Castle pub in Tooting when it was a music venue, Cinatra's in Croydon (closed down), and the Hammersmith Palais. I asked Len if he had ever had any trouble in this line of work. He said, "Not really, I'm a big bloke, and whether they were Mods, Rockers, Punks or Skinheads, at the end of the day they were all just teenyboppers - I'd say to them, 'You've had too much to drink, you need to leave.' If they didn't listen, I'd just grab them by the scruff of the neck and help them to the door - they knew better than to put up a fight." I asked Len if he followed any of the fashions of the time. He replied, "Nah, I just wore my bouncers suit and Dicky-bow - I was never a teenybopper.”

Zaynah

Zaynah dreams of working full-time as a make-up artist in film and fashion. She’s already done lots of work for music videos and magazines, and works as a part-time security guard to earn some extra cash .

Winston

Winston lives in Lewisham in SE London. He looks after a building just off Trafalgar Square in central London. He thought it was amusing that I wanted to take his portrait, but he most certainly knew how to pose.

Richard

Richard was waiting for a bus when I took this shot. I told him that I liked how he dressed, and he told me, ‘I am from a different time. I am stuck in the 1960’s’.

Richard’s full name is Richard Van Egneem. His grandfather was from Belgium. During the war, just before the Germans invaded, he escaped to Chile, South America, where Richard was born and raised.

Richard spent several years living in Spain before moving to Clapham Junction, where he has lived for the past 26 years. He worked as a security guard but at 68, is retired now. I asked him what he liked the most about Clapham, and he said that he liked the breakfast in Wetherspoons and the fact that they have unlimited coffee for just 99p. I asked him what he liked the least about the area, and he said, ‘I hate to see so many scruffy people.’ I said that he can’t be very impressed with how I was dressed; there was a long pause before Richard stood up and said that he had to go as his bus was coming.

Michael

Michael’s first ever tattoo is on his right arm. It reads 'Siena,' which is his daughter's name. He loves the tattoo because 'It's the one thing that they can't take away from me.' It wasn't a planned pregnancy, and Michael and Siena's mother weren't that close as a couple, but Michael really wanted to be a part of his daughters' life. However, Siena's mum wasn't interested and won't let Michael see his daughter. Michael has spent everything he's got on lawyers to gain access to his daughter. However, Siena's mother is wealthy, and he can no longer afford the legal fees to pursue his claim.

It was clear that Michael was really upset by this; he comes from a broken home and grew up in care and hates the idea of history repeating itself. Siena is four now, and he showed me a photo of the last time he saw her when she was just 7-months old. He told me that whenever he sees a kid in a pushchair, he gets upset. He is always wondering where Siena is and if he will ever get to see her again. "Just because I'm a big guy, people don't realise that I get emotional," he told me, "but I really hurt inside, just like everybody else."

He added that the other problem with being a big guy is that people will often try to start fights with him. "The trouble is, I can't back down - I was bullied at school, and I learned to fight from when I was small. If people attack me, I just see red, and I don't care if it's one bloke or five, I will make sure that I hurt them."

Michael dreams of being an actor. He was at college studying acting, but during this time, he suffered a breakdown. This was an awful time for him. He barely left the house for a year and would get panic attacks. The doctor gave him Prozac, and one of the side effects was permanent tinnitus. Michael now listens to music through headphones the whole time to try and drown out the noise in his head. Micheal also had CBT and counselling, and he told me that the CBT was helpful and that he feels much better now.

Things are looking up for Michael. He showed me a photo of his new girlfriend, who he clearly adores. She's a nurse and had just started the night shift. Michael was chilling out on Brixton High Street when I took this shot.

He works in security at nightclubs, and he's looking forward to them opening up again so he can get back to work. He can also go back to the gym now that the lockdown restrictions are lifting. This makes him feel a lot better, and he's looking forward to 'getting back in shape.' (He already looked in pretty good shape to me).

It was easy to chat with Michael. He was born in Brixton, but his family is originally from Kilkenny in Ireland. He clearly had that Irish knack for talking to people.

It was Michael's intimidating look that made me want to photograph him. I certainly wasn't expecting to end up talking to such a humble and personable bloke. I told him that he should try to go back to drama school. Being a director, I like to think that I can tell when people have a talent for acting, and it was clear to me that Michael did. As you can see, he certainly has a screen presence.

WENDY

Back in the day, Wendy did security at nightclubs in Central London. She told me that if clubbers misbehaved, she’d “sling’m out.”

She’s now 76 and retired. She’s lived in South London all her life and has smoked 20-a-day for most of it.

When I took this shot, she had just parked up her car to have a quick cigarette before going into the bank. She told me that she gets her hair dye from Superdrug.

Michelle

Michelle is the gatekeeper at Kensal Green Cemetery in West London.

The cemetery is vast, covering 72 acres with over 250,000 internments. Michelle enjoys the job as she often gets to help people find their relative's graves which she finds rewarding.

Michelle also likes her hut. It's cosy, and she has a kettle in there so she can make a cup of tea while she does her crocheting. She makes baby blankets for charity and has several stacked at the back of her hut.

Her husband, Toby, also works at the cemetery as a gravedigger. They've been a couple since they were very young and met in Cirencester, where Michelle was born and bred.

After getting married, the couple moved to London to find work. Michelle doesn’t mind living in London but told me that it’ll never be home, and unlike the rest of the people there, she doesn’t intend to stay at Kensal Green Cemetery forever.

Kevin

Kevin works front of house at The Hippodrome Casino in Soho. He is originally from Sweden but now lives in Battersea, South London. He misses the quietness of Sweden but the pay is better in London. He very kindly let me take this portrait and then he showed me around the Casino. Even though it was the middle of the day, the place was packed. Kevin was an elegant and pleasant guy.

JIM

Jim ’s a lifelong Londoner and lives on the famous Lambeth Walk. He’s 68 and worked most of his life as a security guard.

He was sitting on an unused market stall in Lower Marsh in Waterloo when I took this shot. He told me that he was waiting for his wife, who was in ‘Merkur Cashino’ trying her luck on the slot machines. 

Just as I finished taking the shot, she came out on her mobility scooter. She looked at Jim and shook her head and said that she hadn’t won anything and the couple headed off.