O'Brien's photos capture a London
that is rapidly vanishing. Of his work he says: "The urban landscapes
capture people off guard in the run-down buildings and streets of East London,
which have now been cleaned up or demolished."
Lately we've been exploring what it looks like to live life on the open
road, chronicling contemporary
gypsies contemporary gypsies and their nomadic lifestyles. But what happens to the children of these
individuals, born into an itinerant life?
This was the subject
of Colin O'Brien's photography series, entitled "Traveller’s Children in
London Fields." The photos capture the lives of young nomads journeying
through East London in 1987. And in case you're unfamiliar with East London in
that age, it's far different than the locale today.
"The
whole area was very run down in those days, with racist and IRA graffiti
everywhereThe whole area was very run down in those days, with racist and IRA graffiti everywhere," O'Brien explained to It's Nice
That. "The children had led a rough hard life and they were older than
their years, and I think this shows in the pictures. They weren’t twee or out
to please me, they were just themselves."
Like a rough gang,
just miniature, the street savvy children radiate confidence and experience.
There is something endlessly fascinating about the way innocence and experience
co-mingle in their poses and expressions, don't you think?
All images © Colin
O’Brien
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