The Victorian East End - People of the Abyss
35.3 هزار بار بازدید -
8 سال پیش
-
Join us for a photo
Join us for a photo journey through the Victorian East End of London around the time of the Jack the Jack the Ripper murders. Using original photographs, taken on the streets of Whitechapel, Spitalfields and at other East End locations in the late 1800's and very early 1900's, we drift through the alleyways and thoroughfares of an area that was termed "The Abyss" to encounter the men, women and children who lived there.
We see them at play; we see them outside their houses, posing for the camera; we visit hidden gardens where the homeless try and enjoy a few hours respite from the toughness of their everyday existences; we go inside the rooms of those fortunate enough to have a roof over their heads; we visit the hospitals and the workhouses that administered to them in sickness and in health.
They look at us across the century and more that has passed since these photographs were taken, their eyes stare into ours. In some cases, you can see the sheer despair etched into their features; in others there is a joy that, given the conditions under which the lived, is difficult for us to comprehend.
One thing that does come across, is the feeling of community that is evident in so many of the photographs. Families and neighbours stand proudly together, ready to confront head on whatever hardships the day is about to thrust upon them.
Brothers hold baby sisters proudly in their arms in protective embraces. Fathers and mothers seem anxious to shield their children from the surrounding poverty and squalor that is evident in so many of the photographs.
We watch as children play happily in the streets, oblivious to the fact they are barefoot. Men and women gather outside pubs.
Elsewhere, we encounter the lines for the Salvation Army Shelter, or see the people scavenging on the refuse heaps, and even in the streets, desperate to find one object or precious morsel that will spell the difference between their families and themselves eating or going hungry.
These are the people that you read about when you read the newspaper accounts of the 1888 East End murders. These are the types of lives that his victims lived, and the conditions that they laboured against and which effectively forced them into the clutches of the Whitechapel Murderer.
This is the Victorian East End, and these are the People of The Abyss.
The photos are accompanied by a beautifully melancholic and haunting soundtrack composed and performed by Iouri Sazonov.
So, press play, sit back and prepare to embark upon a journey that is heart rending, inspiring but which remains fascinating throughout.
We see them at play; we see them outside their houses, posing for the camera; we visit hidden gardens where the homeless try and enjoy a few hours respite from the toughness of their everyday existences; we go inside the rooms of those fortunate enough to have a roof over their heads; we visit the hospitals and the workhouses that administered to them in sickness and in health.
They look at us across the century and more that has passed since these photographs were taken, their eyes stare into ours. In some cases, you can see the sheer despair etched into their features; in others there is a joy that, given the conditions under which the lived, is difficult for us to comprehend.
One thing that does come across, is the feeling of community that is evident in so many of the photographs. Families and neighbours stand proudly together, ready to confront head on whatever hardships the day is about to thrust upon them.
Brothers hold baby sisters proudly in their arms in protective embraces. Fathers and mothers seem anxious to shield their children from the surrounding poverty and squalor that is evident in so many of the photographs.
We watch as children play happily in the streets, oblivious to the fact they are barefoot. Men and women gather outside pubs.
Elsewhere, we encounter the lines for the Salvation Army Shelter, or see the people scavenging on the refuse heaps, and even in the streets, desperate to find one object or precious morsel that will spell the difference between their families and themselves eating or going hungry.
These are the people that you read about when you read the newspaper accounts of the 1888 East End murders. These are the types of lives that his victims lived, and the conditions that they laboured against and which effectively forced them into the clutches of the Whitechapel Murderer.
This is the Victorian East End, and these are the People of The Abyss.
The photos are accompanied by a beautifully melancholic and haunting soundtrack composed and performed by Iouri Sazonov.
So, press play, sit back and prepare to embark upon a journey that is heart rending, inspiring but which remains fascinating throughout.
8 سال پیش
در تاریخ 1395/04/05 منتشر شده
است.
35,367
بـار بازدید شده