“Sprawled endlessly along the magical banks of the Thames, London has been a beacon for people around the world for centuries, seamlessly absorbing their colourful influences while remaining quintessentially British.

It’s a trick not every city can pull off and yet London has been excelling at the same game for almost a thousand years. Immigrants, the city’s lifeblood, continue to pour in, providing London with a constantly self-renewing source of energy and dynamism. As the British capital gears up for the Olympics being held here in 2012 there’s everything to play for and the city has rarely felt so exciting and full of reasons to visit. Whether it’s the history, art, fashion, music, food or nightlife that attracts you here (or a heady mixture of all the above), it’s hard to imagine you’ll come away feeling cheated.”
- Lonely Planet, London

LONDON, ENGLAND— As immigrants with few chances to travel outside their working-class neighborhoods, the six eleven- and twelve-year-olds on the AYV photography team at Lilian Baylis School toured their city with wide eyes. “We never knew these sights were right here!” said Jamaican-born PJ, as he studied Westminster Abbey, posed with a waxen James Bond, and checked out street venders in busy Clapham Junction. Encountering students at the gate of one of London’s most elite schools, they wondered aloud, “Are they smarter than us, or just richer?” (Yeliz, Ricky, and PJ guessed “smarter,” but Nicole, Monira, and Sabrina disagreed.) 

For three days, these pre-teens fanned out across London, snapping photos in four different parts of the city. They began in Kennington, the “hard working” mixed class neighborhood that surrounds their school. Then they headed to “quintessentially British” Westminster in Central London, with its concentration of prestigious landmarks—like Buckingham Palace—its history, and its wealth.

An afternoon spent at Jubilee Gardens, along the banks of the Thames River, yielded photos of young families and playing toddlers, sidewalk performers in pirate costumes alongside picnickers, modern sculpture and fountains, and the famous “London Eye,”
the biggest Ferris wheel in Europe. At Clapham Junction, the team captured the bustle and street commerce in this busy, multi-ethnic neighborhood.

Nothing escaped these young photographers. And their comfort with asking strangers if they could snap their picture produced a portrait gallery that includes members of the House of Lords, young lovers, and immigrants like themselves.

Living London. Four Views. Many Stories

Purely British: Westminster Square [2:04 min]

Hard Working: Kennington Lane [1:59 min]

Relaxed and Fun: Jubilee Garden [1:59 min]

Busy and Tolerant: Clapham Junction [2:25 min] 

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