About a Strand

A two-year street documentary on London’s Strand about mental health and the assumptions we make about people. Exhibited at St Martin-in-the-Fields, 2016.

About a Strand was a two-year street documentary exploring one of London's most iconic locations: The Strand.

The Strand is a place often associated with the high life of London, famous hotels, theatres, restaurants, shopping and some of the city's most recognisable landmarks. Yet beneath this familiar image lies a much deeper and less visible story, one affecting many of the people who work, live and spend their time there.

I have lived with my own mental health difficulties for more than 30 years, and after spending a day on the Strand with my wife, I became increasingly aware of how visibly some people were struggling. I saw people in obvious distress, but I also became aware of how quickly they could be judged or stigmatised by the circumstances in which they found themselves.

What became particularly important to me was the realisation that mental health does not have a particular appearance. It does not belong to one social class, occupation or circumstance. It can be visible, but it can also be exceptionally good at hiding itself.

The project therefore became an attempt to look beyond the assumptions we make about people. I wanted to give a voice and a presence to those who were often judged by their circumstances, while also documenting people working on the Strand - people who may have appeared successful, secure and unaffected, yet could be experiencing many of the same mental health difficulties.

The Strand became a kind of cross section of society. Within a relatively small area, I encountered people from very different backgrounds and circumstances, yet the invisible struggles they carried could be remarkably similar.

Making the work became a life changing experience for me. Through photographing others, I found myself confronting and better understanding aspects of my own mental health. The project became not only a documentary about the people I encountered, but also a personal journey of understanding and learning how to manage my own experiences.

In 2016, About a Strand was exhibited in the Crypt at St Martin-in-the-Fields, London.

The project remains important to me because it challenged one of the most damaging assumptions surrounding mental health: that we can recognise who is struggling simply by looking at them.

Often, we cannot.