I started to practise photography three years ago at the age of 66. I am entirely self-taught. Most of my working life before then was in poetry and in raising children. I founded Pass On A Poem in 2006 as a way to encourage ordinary people to discover and share poems they like and, in a relaxed social setting, to tell fellow readers why. I unrolled the idea in many different parts of the UK. The Reader Organisation, a much bigger enterprise, asked for permission to use the model to complement their own read aloud fiction groups. This meant that the idea could be extended much further, and it is now run by them.
Meanwhile I had became interested in finding a way to portray the character of my neighbourhood. Having lived in North Kensington for 46 years, I knew how important the two market days are to the community and that they unfailingly provide an opportunity to encounter its phenomenal mixture of people. For over four decades I had set out on many a Friday and Saturday to enjoy and observe the proceedings. I began to experiment with street portraits. Then, in June 2017, came the Grenfell Tower fire. This event changed everything. Thousands of local residents wanted to find a way to help. After that terrible night, I began to take my photographs with the idea of introducing a few of the people who live and work in the shadow of Grenfell. I chose to work in black and white because the relative simplicity of the image allows for a more intense disclosure of what there may be to read in a human face.