Through the window

This shop window on Brick Lane attracts the attention of Hazuan who has become illuminated by light reflected from the mannequin in the window.

Brick Lane shop window, 1998

These two children (below) spend most of their day in and around the railway station in Chittagong. They survive by persuading passengers to let them carry their bags in exchange for a few Takas and collecting recyclable rubbish. Smiles disguise a very vulnerable life which also means sleeping rough near the station. Their family are the other children who share their dangerous life.

Chittagong railway children, 2008

The man (below) sitting in the window of a Brick Lane cafe supports his arm on the chair back and contemplates the world. His silhouette is flamboyantly nourished and framed by a combination of bold letters and decorative border curves.

Silhouette of a man sitting in the window of a cafe in Brick Lane, 1983

View of the City looking west from Whitechapel, 1988

The photograph above really tells two stories. Firstly it was shot from the top window of the former ragged school behind Whitechapel station. Like most Victorian buildings in the East End it has since been turned into gated private housing. A bit of a shame really considering the need for social housing and the rising level of homelessness. Secondly the City is without the resplendent Gherkin and other office blocks; you can still even see St Paul’s cathedral.

Mobile phone shop, Dhaka 2009

Globalisation is great at selling mobile phones and providing shops that are the same all over the world but not that good at addressing the underlying causes of poverty and inequality.

Carved face in rock. Temple in Cambodia 2009

The timeless magnificence of a face carved in rock greeted me as I emerged from a temple in Cambodia. It left me with a lot more to contemplate than the display of mobile phones in Dhaka.