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Empowering people affected by homelessness through art, photography and entrepreneurship

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Photo by ROL. Cover of 2016 Cafe Art My London calendar. Second Place, Judge's Choice. Second Choice People's Choice. This Dalmatian, Mr Bond, is a friend of ROL and is pictured in front of the historic Cutty Sark in the Royal Borough of Greenwich. ‘He likes to go around London checking out all the touristic places,’ says ROL, who has had a photo in every My London calendar since the project began in 2013. The Cutty Sark’s name comes from a Robert Burns poem Tam O’Shanter. The ship was built in 1869 and was one of the fastest clipper sailing ships to be built at the time. Formerly a chef, ROL has been sleeping rough for several years, mostly sofa surfing. He is an active volunteer with many charities, including Café Art, and several of his paintings are featured in cafes around London.

Photo by Goska Calik. December in 2016 My London calendar. First Place, Judges' Choice. Goska Calik took this photo at the base of the Isis statue in Hyde Park which represents the Egyptian Goddess of motherhood. She feels that her shadow symbolizes her homelessness, adding that for some people she because almost invisible, like a shadow of her former self. ‘I lost the ability to convince people and lost control of my life. Being homeless is a result of that state of mind.’ Arriving in London four years ago she became homeless when she lost her job due to illness. After sofa-surfing for several months she was finally directed to Crisis where she was helped to find a place to live. Goska was taught photography by her father in Poland. She goes to Cardboard Citizens, a homelessness support organisation where she participates in photography as well as dance, forum theatre and creative writing. She is also studying counselling and works part time as a support worker with people with mental health problems.

Photo by Goska Calik, 2015 My London Exhibition. This shot was taken on one of the hottest days of the year when Hyde Park was ‘full’ says Goska Calik. Arriving in London four years ago she became homeless when she lost her job due to illness. After sofa-surfing for several months she was finally directed to Crisis where she was helped to find a place to live. Goska was taught photography by her father in Poland. She goes to Cardboard Citizens, a homelessness support organisation where she participates in photography as well as dance, forum theatre and creative writing. She is also studying counselling and works part time as a support worker with people with mental health problems.

Photo by XO, chosen by public vote for April in 2016 My London calendar. ‘It was raining lightly. As I was looking through the camera lens, wondering which angle to take the photo from, this guy walked past with his umbrella and I seized the opportunity to snap it,’ says XO who photographed these listed telephone boxes near Lincoln’s Inn. ‘I Googled the location and discovered they’re Grade II listed and that the shorter ones are unique to London, which I thought was cool and also in keeping with the My London theme. Although very rarely used these days, I love the fact they’re still around. They’re synonymous with our capital and this city wouldn’t be the same without them, so I’m happy they’re protected.’ XO goes to the Crisis Skylight building in Whitechapel. ‘I’ve had a passion for, and interest in, photography since my teens, but consider myself a novice and would like to go on a course to learn the ropes.’

Photo by Goska Calik, chosen by public vote for December in 2016 My London calendar. Goska Calik took this shot during the Greenwich and Docklands International Festival in early July. The Colour of Time was a Holi-inspired event by Artonik and East London Dance who invited the Public to participate by throwing coloured powder. ‘I started taking photos when I was five years old. The first photography I did was with my father. It was with a Zorky 12, a Russian camera. He taught me about light and the zoom and everything. I loved it. So then I bought my first camera and I started to take photos. It was a Beirette, a German camera.’ Arriving in London four years ago, Goska found herself homeless when she lost her job due to illness. After sofa-surfing for several months she was finally directed to Crisis where she was helped to find a place to live. Goska is now studying counselling and working part time as a support worker with people with mental health problems. She goes to Cardboard Citizens, a homelessness support organisation where she participated in photography and a dance workshop.

Photo by Goska Calik, 2015 My London Exhibition. Goska Cailk describes this shot: ‘That’s near Hyde Park Corner. That’s my bike. I spent almost a whole day in Hyde Park. That was the only place where there was nobody at all. So I just sat there. It was very very hot that day but there are quite a lot of trees and I ate my lunch there.’ Arriving in London four years ago she became homeless when she lost her job due to illness. After sofa-surfing for several months she was finally directed to Crisis where she was helped to find a place to live. Goska was taught photography by her father in Poland. She goes to Cardboard Citizens, a homelessness support organisation where she participates in photography as well as dance, forum theatre and creative writing. She is also studying counselling and works part time as a support worker with people with mental health problems.

Photo by Amadeus Quadeer, 2015 My London Exhibition. Amadeus Xavier Quadeer says: ‘I was walking down Tottenham Court Road looking to finish the camera and I saw these homeless people outside of Heal’s department store. I wanted to take it so I got the window display as well as the person sleeping outside. I couldn’t get their permission to take the photo because I didn’t want to disturb their slumber, but you can’t see who they are anyway.’ A former business owner producing clothing, he lost his house, became homeless after his marriage broke up ‘I struggled, Lucky for me I came into contact with various social agencies including SHP, The Hanbury Project (Acorn House). Amadeus had a winning photo in last year’s calendar and since then he has become more confident using the camera. ‘I can frame a shot better now in my mind’s eye. I can just know which is a good shot to take. The tips I got from The Royal Photographic Society [training day] stood me in good stead because now I’m more disciplined. I think my confidence has increased. I am in a happy place now. I realise that man is not an island. I needed to reach out: people need people.’

Photo by Zilvinas Vaiteikunas, chosen by public vote for October in 2016 My London calendar. Zin Vaiteikunas decided to take this shot at ground level while exploring streets near Mayfair where he worked on a project with Kids Company. Called ‘The Book of Life’, it covered the struggles in his life, including a troubled childhood and addictions. ‘The challenge I had to overcome was to discover a direction in my life that would keep me happy and fulfill me as a human being. And so for I discovered that it is creativity.’ Originally from Lithuania, he lives in a Camden town ‘garden community centre’. ‘There we expose creativity, grow vegetables, run different workshops including art classes, yoga, crystal healing bike workshops and so on. I live there as a part of the community. I am focusing there in decorating the place and producing my art there as well as helping the community with different garden jobs and recycling skipped material. Most of the people who live there had experienced homelessness. We live there very harmonically. In the future he wants to keep creative no matter how hard the conditions get to keep happy and fulfilled.

Photo by Ellen Rostant, chosen by public vote for May in 2016 My London calendar. Ellen Rostant took this shot in the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park. ‘It’s like you are in a tunnel when you are homeless: It’s a journey and there’s always going to be light at the end of the tunnel. [Like this photo], there is some dark and light patches in between on the journey.’ Aged sixteen, Ellen lives with her parents and siblings in temporary housing where they have been for three years. Her father Andre sells The Big Issue in Soho and her mother works at a supermarket. She recently finished Eastleigh Community School in Stratford and is now going to Leyton Sixth Form College doing geography, 3-D graphic design and photography. ‘Hopefully I am able to go into something like landscape photography or maybe portraits or art stuff. I don’t have a camera, I use my phone.’

Photo by Ellen Rostant, 2015 My London Exhibition. Ellen Rostant took this photo of her younger sister. She says that homeless people are often ignored on the street so she wanted to make it impossible for the people trying to see this person’s face to do so, ‘to make them think’. Aged sixteen, Ellen lives with her parents and siblings in temporary housing where they have been for three years. She recently finished Eastleigh Community School in Stratford and is now going to Leyton Sixth Form College doing geography, 3-D graphic design and photography.

Photo by Ellen Rostant. September in 2016 My London calendar. Third Place, Judges' Choice. Ellen Rostant saw the boot on the road and thought it would make a nice picture because ‘how can someone lose a boot? Someone’s out there and they’ve got one boot left.’ Ellen’s father sells The Big Issue in Soho. Her family has been in temporary housing for nearly three years now. ‘It’s quite a small house for our family and the uncertainty is hard for my siblings as we are all in school, and relocating would mean we would have to start again. Before that we were living in Maida Vale and we were renting there.’ Ellen, who is 16 years old, finished Eastleigh Community School in Stratford in 2015 and is now going to Sixth Form College.

Photo by James Robson, 2015 My London Exhibition. James Robson took this shot of his girlfriend Debbie and her friend Kat at Crystal Palace on a hot summer afternoon. ‘We went over there for a couple of hours and chilled out.’ Born in New Cross, James lives in Lewisham and often visits Crystal Palace as it’s near where Debbie lives in Sydenham. ‘James went to Crisis when he had a breakdown: ‘I was at a low ebb’. He is now a student at City Lit in Covent Garden studying photography, he’s still connected with Crisis doing photography, which is how he heard about the contest.

Photo by Stephen James, 2015 My London Exhibition. Stephen James says: ‘My favourite place in the whole world is the Serpentine, Hyde Park. I just love being in there.’ At The Royal Photographic Society training he was told to ‘do what you love’ and ‘embrace that’ but also be aware that ‘you’ve got something that you haven’t got to be too precious with.’ (the single-use camera). ‘It can get scratched, it can get marked, you can jump in the water almost and splash about. That’s what popped into my mind.’ Stephen was adopted and grew up in Twickenham and South Kensington. ‘My adoptive family moved to America, so I was all alone and just sort of tearful and fell apart and ended up on the streets. Crisis rescued me about four years ago and through them I ended up getting my own housing association flat a year ago in the Notting Hill area. So life has begun again.’

Photo by David Tovey. February in 2016 My London calendar. First Place, People's Choice. David Tovey met Tony sitting behind St Mary Le Strand, near the Royal Courts of Justice. ‘It was the first photo I took. He was sitting there in complete contrast to the building across the road.’ He says he ended up taking to him for a while as he read the morning paper. Tony told him that since becoming homeless, listening to music was the only thing he missed. David, who did a foundation art course at London Metropolitan University in 2013, had two photos in last year’s calendar, including the cover shot. ‘I’ve gained a lot from this project. A year ago I almost didn’t make the camera handout: this year I gave a presentation to the people picking up cameras!’ After six years in the army David opened his own restaurant in London. In 2011, following health issues he lost his business and became homeless. He is now housed and is a practising artist. He volunteers with Clothing the Homeless and Café Art.

Photo by Michael Crosswaite. November in 2016 My London calendar. Alex Davies Award for Best Portrait. Michael Crosswaite was on his way to return the camera when he took this shot of Aaron Little in the art room of Providence Row, Whitechapel. ‘I didn’t over-think the photo and perhaps that’s why it worked. The painting is so good it makes the picture.’ Aaron explains that he found an ornate oval frame for which he decided to create the Caravaggio-inspired David and Goliath painting. ‘I found that doing art has been so beneficial to me for my well being and in all sorts of ways. The greatest discovery I’ve found is I realise that I’ve got a talent for it and I wasn’t aware of that,’ he says. Michael lives near Broadway Market, Hackney. He was sleeping rough for several years before getting into a hostel and then a flat. He goes to Providence Row and Crisis and has paintings in Café Art’s ‘Art in Cafés’ programme.

Photo by Ioanna Zakana. May in 2016 My London calendar. Third Place, People's Choice. ‘I liked the sky, it was amazing that day,’ says Ioanna Zagkana about her photo of 30 St Mary Axe, known as ‘The Gherkin’, and St Andrew Undershaft. She feels they represent the future and the past of London. The Gherkin was built in 2003 and its elderly neighbor built in 1532, survived not only the Blitz but also the Great Fire of London. Coming from an island in the Mediterranean Sea, Ioanna has been living in London for almost five years. She was a dancer until an accident ended her career. She then worked as a self-employed therapist until ongoing health problems meant that she could not continue. When she ran out of money she lived in a squat in Whitechapel before she heard about Crisis. She goes to many art groups, including Crisis Skylight and Women at the Well. She is currently staying with a friend. She believes that not enough people live in the present: ‘We are not grounded’, and it is her goal to be so.

Photo by Cecie, chosen by public vote for July in 2016 My London calendar. ‘It was a really hot day. It was the first day I collected the camera so I just walked around until I stopped somewhere near the Tower Bridge and saw people on the grass. It looked so relaxing so I just captured the Moment’, says Ceci, adding that London can be bustling but it can also be relaxing. Originally from Hong Kong, Ceci found herself alone at a railway station all night one December when she met a homeless guy who suggested she join him at Crisis for Christmas. Diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder while staying at a night shelter, she uses the Crisis art groups to help her get away from the chaos in her large Bethnal Green squat which she finds ‘chaotic’, with ‘people yelling, shouting, verbal violence and physical violence.’ Ceci says that art also helps her find her ‘inner connection’ and gives her strength to fight self-destructive behaviour. She has studied media and culture and enjoys participating in photography and art as part of her ‘daily life enlightenment’ and she is currently creating a blog about random acts of kindness.

Photo by Desmond, chosen by public vote for January in 2016 My London calendar. Desmond Henry took this image of a woman talking a coffee break in front of a mural by Brazilian street artists Cranio, Bailon and Sliks, near the Pritchard’s Road Day Centre, Hackney. ‘I was very lucky, it was as if God sent her.’ Desmond was born in Northamptonshire and grew up in the West Indies. He says: ‘Sometimes people at the centre are thrown out of their housing if they can’t look after it and they put them in a hostel. They get a place later.’ He says he has seen the number of people sleeping rough rise in recent years. He has been going to the Centre for more than 20 years now. ‘They tell you about what is going on in the world. We have meetings, we have outings. Because we are mentally unwell and need support to develop our skills and build our confidence, that’s why we are there.’ Desmond likes to play music as a DJ: ‘R&B up to the 60s.’

Photo by Frances Whitehouse, 2015 My London Exhibition. Frances Whitehouse says: ‘This is Tom, a local cleaner that I know from my area and I was in a shop looking at all these toys. I did it so they are in the foreground – they are larger than him! So it’s a bit of juxtaposition.’ Frances, who has suffered from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder in the past, left home when she was really young because she had a violent childhood. ‘I lived in a pipe for some time.’ Since volunteering with SHP she has found a new partner and is much more happy. ‘I’ve been having counselling. Now I’m finally feeling like I’ve made progress. Frances, who got an A in art at college and a diploma in shoe design, has paintings Café Art’s art in café programme. ‘I hadn’t done art for some time and they helped me realise my potential. When you are unhappy you disassociate yourself from reality and Café Art has helped me feel valued again by giving me confidence, because of my art. Now I value everything I draw or see.’

Photo by Maciek Walorski, chosen by public vote for August in 2016 My London calendar. Maciek Walorski took this photo in Kensington Gardens, saying the Geese were not afraid because they were probably expecting food: ‘but not this time!’ Maciek, who comes from Poland, has lived in London for twelve years. He became homeless about a year ago and is currently sleeping rough. He was working as a night auditor for a Soho private members’ club while studying art, media & design and computer animation at London Metropolitan University during the day. ‘You know, working in the night brings with it some sort of danger because it’s not really good for your health. After seven years working night shifts I was very depressed,’ he says, adding that he resigned because of personal and work related problems. The Connection at St Martin-in-the-Fields has helped him with a place to live and St Mungo’s Broadway has given him a work placement. He is a member of Artfitzrovia and St Martin-in-the-Fields art groups: ‘I would like to do art from now on as I always wanted.’

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