Looking for something?

Tap outside or press close

NewsPhotography

Vincent Chapters captures the everyday beauty of London life in new street exhibition

Film-based documentary photographer Vincent Chapters has collaborated with media company BUILDHOLLYWOOD family of JACK, JACK ARTS and DIABOLICAL to create an accurate and authentic snapshot of London life. As part of the Your Space Or Mine project, the display will be his first-ever street exhibition.

Written By:
Black and white photograph of a man surrounded by photographers and media, displayed on a BUILDHOLLYWOOD poster site on a brick wall with ivy

If anyone knows London, it's born-and-bred resident Vincent Chapters. The 29-year old is intimately familiar with the city's residents and unique quirks, all of which take centre stage in his exhibition of evocative images. Taken from Vincent's Nuff Love project, the photographs will take over BUILDHOLLYWOOD'S poster sites across the capital.

Using London's street environment, lifestyle, and culture as inspiration for his work, Vincent distils the urban landscape's dirt, dynamism, and joy into his images. Capturing friends, passers-by, architecture and the one-of-a-kind medley of characters that make up some of the capital's different scenes, he is carving out a niche with his authentic, urban style. And his Your Space Or Mine is the perfect showcase of his immense talents.

A person walks past a street poster displaying Vincent Chapters' photograph of figures on a London street, surrounded by other posters and graffiti on a brick wall.
Two framed photographs by Vincent Chapters mounted on a brick wall, showing street scenes from his Nuff Love project as part of the Your Space Or Mine exhibition
Person sitting on a stack of white crates beside a blue trolley, viewing framed photographs of London life displayed on a brick wall as part of Vincent Chapters' street exhibition

Created by BUILDHOLLYWOOD, Your Space Or Mine is described as "the country's biggest ongoing creative project on the street". The initiative aims to give artists a creative platform on the streets to support the creative community and energise local neighbourhoods. Founded on the belief that art should be for everyone and made accessible for all to enjoy, this worthy project has also seen involvement from Gum Man, The Molasses Gallery and Matty Bovan, amongst others.

Vincent promises to be the perfect fit for the project seeing as his photographs balance both integrity and visual appeal. Spanning eight years, the selected images document a series of moments in the lives of Londoners going about their business, like a sequence of vignettes of inner-city life.

Chapters is renowned for his flair for taking relaxed but compelling portraits of the people he's drawn to, and this exhibition will be no exception. His pictures are celebratory, and, as a result, they're characterised by a visible reciprocal respect between photographer and subject – there's a lot of love in these images.

Vincent Chapters' photograph of passengers on public transport displayed on a blue BUILDHOLLYWOOD poster site on a London street
Street poster by Vincent Chapters showing a man in red clothing and hat sitting on steps outside a blue door, part of the Your Space Or Mine exhibition
A person in a brown jacket views framed photographs by Vincent Chapters displayed on a brick wall as part of the Your Space Or Mine street exhibition in London

An important thread running through these works is a Britishness that doesn't perpetuate American-centric ideas of what the country stands for. Rather than making a study of working-class London for the benefit of a comfortable elite, he's an insider taking portraits of life that unfolds around him,

"Most of my pictures are taken all around the city – the good and the bad," Vincent explains. "I try to keep it as honest as possible. In terms of my influences, it is just inner-city life – the energy within the city, the different kinds of communities within it and just the lifestyle of it.

"I remember when I was younger and American culture was heavy. America's point of view of our identity was just like Hugh Grant, tea, and scones, all that stuff. I was just like, hang on a minute. I can't believe they actually think that. So then I just thought, let me show the different worlds within this city."

Street exhibition displaying Vincent Chapters' photographs of London life on a wet urban pavement, with pedestrians walking past the installations
Street exhibition display showing three photographs from Vincent Chapters' Nuff Love project mounted on a brick wall next to a green utility box
A grid of six coloured photographs showing London street scenes with handwritten blue text annotations above and below, displayed on a dark poster site
Billboard displaying Vincent Chapters' photograph from his Nuff Love project showing a woman in an urban setting, part of the Your Space Or Mine street exhibition in London
Share

Further Reading