Deptford High Street
This little book is the outcome of a 18-month project (2009-2011), which aimed at utilising photographic research to meet local people, gain local knowledge and create my sense of belonging to the area I had just moved to. I photographed and spoke to shopkeepers, customers and residents on the High Street, asking them to share their experiences of this street and Deptford in general. Lived experience is deeply embedded in history; even if interpretations are subjective, as psychological truths these accounts are just as important as factually reliable accounts. Story-telling reduces the gulf between the researcher and participants, which is necessary in building relationships with the people whose history is being talked about. In the pursuit of more uninhibited responses, participants were assured that comments would remain anonymous and that images would not correspond to the comments. Through these stories of lived experiences I gained a better understanding of the social and political history of Deptford and how different people perceive the changes taking place in the area. This project formed the basis of lasting friendships and relationships and led to other projects in the local area which can be viewed on my website (anitastrasser.com). The project was also a precursor to Deptford is Changing: a creative exploration of the impact of gentrification, a book I published in 2020. The book is available for reading in Deptford Lounge, West Greenwich Library, Goldsmiths Library and Special Collections.
This little book is the outcome of a 18-month project (2009-2011), which aimed at utilising photographic research to meet local people, gain local knowledge and create my sense of belonging to the area I had just moved to. I photographed and spoke to shopkeepers, customers and residents on the High Street, asking them to share their experiences of this street and Deptford in general. Lived experience is deeply embedded in history; even if interpretations are subjective, as psychological truths these accounts are just as important as factually reliable accounts. Story-telling reduces the gulf between the researcher and participants, which is necessary in building relationships with the people whose history is being talked about. In the pursuit of more uninhibited responses, participants were assured that comments would remain anonymous and that images would not correspond to the comments. Through these stories of lived experiences I gained a better understanding of the social and political history of Deptford and how different people perceive the changes taking place in the area. This project formed the basis of lasting friendships and relationships and led to other projects in the local area which can be viewed on my website (anitastrasser.com). The project was also a precursor to Deptford is Changing: a creative exploration of the impact of gentrification, a book I published in 2020. The book is available for reading in Deptford Lounge, West Greenwich Library, Goldsmiths Library and Special Collections.
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We didn't have much money when we were young and sometimes we had to go
and rob a big store - you'd never steal from a small shop-owner or mug anyone.
We'd fill a shopping trolley and ask the people in the store if we could leave it
there. Then, after their shift was over and the new staff had come in, we'd go and say
"We' re just collecting our stuff' and leave without paying. We pushed it to the
limits, but we had to because we had to survive. I have 6 kids and when the giro
hadn't come through because someone else had got hold of it or the postman
hadn't put it through the door, or you'd forgotten to get a new benefit book, you
knew you'd be without money for a month. You could have a tab in the shops
because they knew you but once it reached £5 pound you couldn't get any more.
The shop-owners knew they wouldn't get the money because they knew you didn't
have it, so they set the limit at that, but only because they knew who you were. You
couldn't do that today. But when you had no money and you needed baby milk and
nappies, we had to rob the shop. We didn't do it often, just every 6 months or so,
and we were very careful. But at the same time you weren't afraid of getting booked
because you knew all the Bobbies and in those days, when you had to spend a night
at the station, you'd get a cup of tea and an egg sandwich in the morning. That
wasn't so bad. I got arrested once because I just swung my leg and the local Bobby
thought I was going to kick the shop window in. I tried to explain but it was no
use. Their motto at the time was "get them young and that'll sort them out for the
future". Another time I got arrested when we'd had a big night out and were
pissed and just sat down on the street because we couldn't walk anymore. Instead of
walking us home the 50m like they'd do today, they just arrested us. The big
shops don't lose anything by you robbing them, so that wasn't so bad. But you
would never ever steal from a local person, or a small shop-owner, never! There
were no muggings in those days, or gun crime. Only the big fish had guns and
you wouldn't go near them, but it was always just fists - that was the rule in a
one-on-one fight, no tools. Not like now!
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