Simon Wheatley / Lost Dreams【SIGNED】

"It was all about going to youth clubs and spitting, listening to illegal radio... spraying bars on the street, going to someone's bedroom and making music. Everything was like that. is…."
 
2005-2007 East London, this book is a time capsule to the "lost era" in present-day London. A collection of works by Simon Wheatley, a photographer based in England.
In the author's previous work "Don't Call Me Urban! (McNidder and Grace, 2011)", the realistic scenes of the new music genre [grime] born from the dark flames of the UK garage are presented in a uniquely intimate way. It was expressed as an image.
"But at the time, it was a little too rushed..." Wheatley recalls now. He was invited to join the prestigious photography group Magnum Photos and felt pressured to publish his first book at the perfect time. And the diamonds unearthed within it have become so special from thousands of hours of patient observation, photography, refinement and collection that Don't Call Me Urban! It quickly became a classic as a cultural document, and a collector's item due to its limited edition.
However, by producing the photo book "Don't Call Me Urban!", the author left behind a huge amount of unused photos and a rich and colorful contact sheet that was not cut. .
At the time, the off-camera children were just as important to the author as the men they were posing with.
"It was all about going to youth clubs and spitting, listening to illegal radio... spraying bars on the street, going to someone's bedroom and making music. Everything was like that. is…."
This book is a curated work filled with such thoughts. Raised on the Isle of Dogs, it focuses on the adolescent lives of several characters, including community legend Hak Baker (ex-Bomb SquadMC and now G-Folk musician). . At a time when urban public spaces were dilapidated but usable, the lives of younger generations were spontaneous in real life, without the pressure of trends to follow Google and digital algorithms. I draw young people including them in the era.
“Youth clubs were underground,” recalls the author. Before the government cut back on public sector spending after 2010, youth services were really widespread throughout London's urban communities. Most of the pages in this book were shot at community centers on four estates in East London. These community centers were once places for aspiring grime MCs, DJs and producers to meet, eat and hone their skills. And during the hours of late-night illegal radio broadcasts, it's where local heroes like Dizzee Rascal and Tinchy Stryder chased their dreams of chart success.
In London today, more than 100 youth clubs have closed, and the abolition of youth services in the 2010s is one of the reasons why this book has a sense of nostalgia.
Following the habit of writing lyrics before smartphones, this 174-page book is bound in an analog-style ring binder reminiscent of the lyric book of the time. Lost Dreams” is included.
Publisher publisher: Self published
Publication year: 2022
Number of pages pages: 174
Size size: 300×235mm
Format format: Softcover, spiral bound
language language：English
attachment:
State condition: New
*Signed by the artist