These photographers challenge everything we know about gentrification

Rising rent prices, overcrowded cities and growing social inequality are just some of the symptoms of a global housing crisis that affects the most vulnerable in society. The theme of gentrification is one that is particularly linked with contemporary urban living, as  multi-million dollar developments seem to increasingly take precedence over the construction of affordable homes for a growing number of inhabitants in metropolises around the world.

“London is no longer slow burning. Change is now happening at a rate at which the city will possibly consume itself,” says Dr. Alan Mace, Associate Professor of Urban Planning Studies LSE, referring to the thesis of Rowan Moore’s book “Slow Burn City”, a lamentation of London’s capitalist-driven construction boom in the 21st century. Mace was among those invited to speak at a series of podium discussions entitled Challenging Urban Change organised by contemporary photography platform Unseen, in collaboration with the London School of Economics, to mark the launch of the sixth issue of Unseen Magazine.

In keeping with the creative platform’s philosophy of highlighting the impact of socially-engaged art in society, the launch introduced the works of several photographers and artists who will be featured in the latest edition of the bi-annual photographic journal. Shedding light on the research undertaken by artists such as Eva Sajovic and Max Colson, the series of talks explored the links between activism and community, capital and forgotten knowledge and property and housing. A recurrent theme was the symbolic status that buildings assume when linked to memories of home, becoming so much more than bricks and mortar in our collective imagination.

“People don’t talk about the gaps in our memories that these changes leave, the way that places that formative in peoples’ experiences and lives disappear and leave mental gaps,” said photographer Lewis Bush of his own vision of the changing urban landscape in London, already so different to the one he remembers growing up.

Dr. Nancy Holman, an Associate Professor at LSE who directs the regional urban planning programme, noted a certain reinvention of spaces by architectural firms in a “specific way that’s devoid of the place itself” in a discussion with artist Felicity Hammond, whose works explore the hypocrisies and political contradictions embedded within the urban landscape. Both are interested in aspects of narrative inherent in the development of construction sites. Hammond points out that “these new so-called luxury developments have a story, and that is so much a part of their marketing material. Often that story is based on what came before, whether that’s using an aspect of culture or heritage to attach capital to a development.”

The event not only acted as an introduction to the photographic talent showcased in Unseen Magazine, but encouraged a wider reflection on the role of visual art in engaging with critical societal issues. Kath Scanlon, a researcher at LSE whose work focuses on urban planning and government, underlined a factor that is often overlooked in a cultural dialogue preoccupied with monetary values and superficial aesthetics. “It’s often forgotten that homes are not just what they look like, but what they mean to the people who live in them.”