Sebastian Melendez-Acosta

London is a city of striking contrasts. I can walk down streets with grand Victorian houses worth millions of pounds, and round the corner stands a post-war social housing tower block. I can go shopping at luxury boutiques just steps away from the homeless begging for help. Since the pandemic and the cost of living crisis London has become visibly divided. Being a Londoner and a photographer I have felt obliged to visually document the vast wealth inequality, social housing and homelessness in my city.

This project began with exploration into areas of high contrast, from neglected social housing to redeveloped luxury flats, from the suited and booted to the homeless in the city. I also started to delve deep into various visual storytelling techniques from photocollage to wide angle film photography. The result is this photobook. These images are not meant to exploit, but to bear witness. I want to tell the difficult story that many turn a blind eye to.