NightFolk

‘NightFolk’ is a portrait series featuring London’s night workers and their nocturnal lives. An atmospheric and dark series (think Hopper’s ‘Nighthawks’) comprising 15 participants from HS2 engineer, artist, hotel night manager and cabbie. Peter says, “The access I got while shooting this series was one of the biggest highlights – getting to explore the HS2 site at night, shooting on the floor of H. Forman & Son’s salmon factory, and seeing artists such as Pure Evil and Dave Buonaguidi at work. The series was sponsored by Hasselblad which meant I got to create the images using the beautiful medium format X1D II.”

The feature picture above is Gary Alford, who arrives at Smithfield Market at around 11pm and stays until the morning commuters begin to flock into Farringdon. He works at the family company, D.P. Meats, a delicatassen wholesale business founded in 1983.

Michelle works at Beigel Shop, one of the two famous bagel sellers on Brick Lane – ‘the yellow one’. She works nights at the business that dates back to 1855, indulging the pastry cravings of the East London post-party crowds and early morning workers.

Mario Goinden has reinvented himself many times. After working at Smithfield market for 17 years, he cooked for musicians in the music business and is now a taxi driver and tour guide. A real character, we chat about all sorts in our short time together at Poplar Works, a newish workspace for small fashion businesses.

I decided to write to Charles Uzzell Edwards (aka Pure Evil, artist) on a whim in case he ever works nights. It turns out he sometimes drives into London in the very early hours to work on various things in his Shoreditch studio. He loves how calm the usually manic roads around Old Street are at that time, and the peacefulness of his studio is a welcome change. As a big fan of his work I was thrilled to meet the man himself and snap a few portraits.

Aneeka Barmi is a Senior Engineer working for SCS JV on HS2, Europe’s largest infrastructure project. She works at night on the weekends to avoid disrupting the busy passenger traffic out of Euston. She’s currently strengthening two old bridges ready for tunnelling to begin underneath, and loves the buzz and banter on a night shift.

Diana Boakyewaa is the night manager at Bankside, an arty boutique hotel on Southbank. She does a 12 hour shift from 7pm four nights in a row and is usually busy checking people in, helping them find fun night spots, and a lot more. It’s much quieter when I visit, however, with the hotel not yet open again, and she’s mainly on guard duty, keeping watch over the beautiful objects and sculptures that fill the hotel. A warm and charming character; guests love her!

Bob Bowers works for Network Rail at London Bridge station as a customer service assistant, patrolling the bustling concourse and public areas. He used to work in the film industry but says it can be more dramatic on a night shift at the station!

Loreta Maciulyte starts work before 3am at H. Foreman & Son, Hackney Wick’s famous salmon factory that’s been around since 1905. Among other things, she manages the smoked salmon production team and oversees the fish’s journey from kiln to packaging. 

John Boyce is a warden at Lincoln’s Inn, the largest of London’s four Inns of Court. He started working there after a stint on site as a contractor and enjoyed the surroundings so much he applied for a permanent job. Clearly passionate about the Inn’s history, he recounts many interesting facts and stories during our meeting.

I had the pleasure of meeting the artist, Dave Buonaguidi (aka Real Hackney Dave) recently. Most famous for his screenprints and love of jaffa cakes, he dabbles in different media and is tinkering with a fruit machine and a deactivated mortar when I see him. He tells me he often works nights when the temperature is more stable and helps his work dry more slowly.

Evon Nelson of Go Ahead London has been working on the buses since 1986 and on the night buses for the past 20 years. His base is the stunning Stockwell Bus Garage, built in 1952 as a cavernous, vaulted concrete home for 200 buses. Evon’s friendliness and warmth is typical of the garage’s workforce, and it felt like one big family when I visited.