NIKOLAJ BENDIX SKYUM LARSEN

Using London's 343 bus route as a focus, Larsen has made an array of video portraits of the community of North Peckham. Shown in random sequence which never repeats itself, the 47 scenes portray the diverse lives of people across this area of south east London from Michael, the Paralympic athlete who is training to qualify for London 2012, to rapper Evans, who opens up to the camera about his time in mental hospital, but also about his determination to make a name for himself through music, poetry.

 

"Witnessing these portraits you get a sense that Larsen's tapped into their souls - encouraging them to just be who they are, expressing the joy and struggle that comes with being human. You don't get the sense that there's a camera anywhere, or that they're self-consciously 'speaking to camera'. Heart-felt expressions of authentic thoughts, feelings and emotions: a refreshing contrast to media interpretations of Peckham, couched in stereotype and cliché."

DoP: Jonas Mortensen , sound design and mix: Mikkel H. Eriksen

From review by Manjinder Sidhu

 

Read Peckham Platform Director Emily Druiff's essay about 343 Perspectives here

 

Commissioned by Peckham Platform