Shaul Schwarz

Elephant & Castle

Elephant and Castle a former all cockney and proud British neighborhood in the south of London has changed dramatically since Bert Hardy chief photographer for the former legendary magazine Picture Post completed his photo essay “life in the Elephant”. Commissioned to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the closing of Picture Post, Schwarz went back to Elephant and Castle to photograph a vastly different neighborhood. With crime constantly growing in a labyrinth of cement and subways and a vast immigrant population Elephant and castle glory days are long gone, but once again change is on the horizon as many estates are due to be demolished and thousands of new homes are due to be build by 2010.

A sign announcing a new building to be build stands in front of the Heygate Estate.There’s been much controversy over the plan to soon demolish the estate.
   
Doves flying over the round about in the Heygate Estates. In the background three girl friends that were born and raised in Elephant & Castle are walking on Saturday afternoon.
  
Two teenagers at the Heygate Estate smoke a joint as another teenager pops a wheelie on motorcycle in the background. The rundown Heygate estate has become a breading ground for teenage gang’s in southern London.
     
  
Members ofChoong Family, music group, leaning on their silver convertible car in Brandon Street Elephant and Castle. Formed out of friendships through the years, the group has evolved into one of the foremost forces in the UK urban scene.
  
A young men practicing his boxing skills at “Fits Roy Lodge” the famous old boxing club under the bridge in Elephant & Castle that has produced many British champion boxers over the years.
   
Worshiper pray during Easter Sunday at Mount Salvation Church on 53 Chatham street in Elephant and Castle. Mount Salvation Church primarily has followers from Nigeria.
     
  
Portrait of a boy dressed with white traditional costume is crossing his fingers and raising his head in the outskirts of the Mount Salvation Church on Easter Sunday. Mount Salvation Church primarily has followers from Nigeria.
   
A man is standing with his newspaper in one hand and the other hand in his pocket. Cockney white English have become the minority in Elephant and Castle as more and more African and Latin immigrants moved inn.
  
Three local teenagers girls standing with their dog, in front of the Heygate Estate.The rundown Heygate estate has become a breading ground for teenage gang’s in southern London.
     
  
Ronald is holding a beer and playing with his friend’s dog while the dog is licking him at the Crown Wenlock Stout Pub on Brandon that is open since 1850.Ronald is a regular in this pub and he lives in Elephant & Castle for the last 40 years.
   
Children accompanied by their parents are having birthday party in MacDonald’s on a sunny Saturday morning in Apri.l
   
A busy street corner near the tube station of Elephant and Castle. Elephant and Castle was a formerly a white working class area that has become much more racially divided as many African and Latin immigrants settled inn over the lat 20 years.
     
  
Two students friends from Poland who came to study in London are taking their cats out for a walk in the park while a father with his baby in his arms pass by
   
Patricia Smith stands in her back yard at 1 Prospect House on Gay Wood Street 7. “I am constantly afraid of the changes happening around, it has become a different place to live inn” says Patricia.
   
A couple is waiting for the bus near the Heygate Estate. The man talks on the mobile phone while the woman is laughing.
     
  
Kwame 25 years old (R) and Rob 38 years old (L) are relaxing and drinking beers on Saturday afternoon. Rob and Kwame came from Ghana to London four years ago and they live on Orb St. They send money to support their families back home every month.
   
Maggie sits on the stairs outside the tube station of Elephant & Castle, smoking a cigarette on a sunny Saturday. She lives in Elephant & Castle for years now but she never recovered from the fall out of her marriage when her husband left her for another woman and currently begs for money outside the tube station.
   
Twin sisters Omasu & Suma Tetty stand in the market to get thier portrait taken
     
  
A man looks out the window of a bus as it passes by the shopping mall of Elephant and Castle
   
A man carries his suitcases as he walks throu the underground passage at the center of Elephant and Castle