London’s Many Faces: Capturing Beauty On The Streets Of Hackney
![Vans](https://images.huckmag.com/tco/icons/Huck/kisspng-vans-decal-sticker-logo-wall-vans-of-the-wall-5b4c98d4e942b8.1388944015317465169554.jpg?w=1920&q=75&auto=compress&format=jpg)
- Text by Shingi Rice
- Photography by Shingi Rice
![London’s Many Faces: Capturing Beauty On The Streets Of Hackney](https://images.huckmag.com/tco/images/Huck/compilation_02-2560x958-2560x1937-copy.png?w=1920&q=75&auto=compress&format=jpg)
As a kid growing up in Spain, there was always a camera lying around my house. When I was about 12, there was a school trip where I needed to take one with me. So I picked it up and that started the interest – but it wasn’t really serious then. As the years went by, new cameras started coming out, MySpace and Tumblr became a thing. Being surrounded by so much imagery made me want to create my own visuals, too.
I didn’t really think I was going to do it as a career. I thought you couldn’t do photography for a living. My parents were like that, too: ‘You can’t do that, it’s not realistic.’ It wasn’t until I had heart surgery five years ago that I decided to focus on what I really wanted to do. It was a ‘do or die’ situation: ‘I lived through this, so I have to do it.’ I haven’t looked back since.
![](https://images.huckmag.com/tco/images/Huck/compilation_01-2173x1100-2173x1046.png?w=1920&q=75&auto=compress&format=jpg)
“When I select models, 99.9 per cent of the time, I’m looking to challenge society’s idea of what beauty is.”
As a fashion photographer, I work with models of colour. I feel they are underrepresented in both the media and in the fashion industry. When I find people who go against how they’re ‘supposed’ to look and accept their own beauty – their hair, their skin – I see that as an act of rebellion, because they’re choosing not to follow the rules that society is giving them. When I select models, 99.9 per cent of the time, I’m looking to challenge society’s idea of what beauty is.
With this kind of rebellion, it’s about representation: to show everyone that they are accepted in society. If you push out the same kind of image all of the time, people are going to think that they have to look that way. That’s how I felt when I was younger. Part of the reason I do what I do is so that other people don’t feel that they’re not accepted.
![](https://images.huckmag.com/tco/images/Huck/compilation_02-2560x958-2560x1937.jpg?w=1920&q=75&auto=compress&format=jpg)
“Documentary photography, conflict photography - these things are no joke. They capture an issue. I try and do that through fashion.”
My gran is from Zimbabwe. Ridley Road market, in London, reminds me of there. The little shops they have, with people selling cooked food, fresh fruit and veg, the butchers, the fishmongers, it reminds me of being back in Zimbabwe. You’ve got places like Peckham, too, which they call Little Lagos. I love that – holding onto small businesses, making it a melting pot of cultures. These communities are independent. It makes sense to shoot there.
![](https://images.huckmag.com/tco/images/Huck/compilation_03-2560x958-2560x1937.jpg?w=1920&q=75&auto=compress&format=jpg)
![](https://images.huckmag.com/tco/images/Huck/compilation_05-2560x958-2173x1495.jpg?w=1920&q=75&auto=compress&format=jpg)
I don’t listen to authority. I hate having to follow the rules. Obviously, with the fashion industry, there are certain guidelines which I don’t follow. Don’t get me wrong, things are improving. Slowly, but it is changing.
Documentary photography, conflict photography – these things are no joke. They capture an issue. I try and do that through fashion. For me, even with fashion photography, if we can’t tell a story with the images, then there’s no real point. Editorial shoots are fun, but there should always be a message behind it. Otherwise, there’s no real point.
Photography: © Shingi Rice
Read more stories from This Is Off The Wall, an editorial partnership from Huck and Vans.
This story was originally published in 2019.
Enjoyed this article? Follow Huck on X and Instagram.
Support stories like this by becoming a member of Club Huck.
Latest on Huck
![Is skateboarding really a subculture anymore?](https://images.huckmag.com/tco/images/Huck/Huck81_Socials_HeroImage_SkateboardingIsNotASubculture_240618_V2-1.jpg?w=1920&q=75&auto=compress&format=jpg)
Is skateboarding really a subculture anymore?
With skate’s inclusion in the Olympics, Kyle Beachy asks what it means for the culture around the sport, and whether it’s possible to institutionalise an artform.
Written by: Kyle Beachy
![Autism cannot be cured — stop trying](https://images.huckmag.com/tco/images/Huck/shutterstock_2322534063.jpg?w=1920&q=75&auto=compress&format=jpg)
Autism cannot be cured — stop trying
A questionable study into the ‘reversal’ of autism does nothing but reinforce damaging stereotypes and harm, argues autistic author Jodie Hare.
Written by: Jodie Hare
![Bristol Photo Festival returns for second edition](https://images.huckmag.com/tco/images/Huck/Hashem-Shakeri-from-the-series-_Staring-into-the-Abyss_.-%C2%A9-Hashem-Shakeri.jpg?w=1920&q=75&auto=compress&format=jpg)
Bristol Photo Festival returns for second edition
After the success of it’s inaugural run, the festival returns this autumn with exhibitions, education and community programmes exploring a world in constant motion through still image.
Written by: Ben Smoke
![Documenting the life of a New York gang leader paralysed by gun violence](https://images.huckmag.com/tco/images/Huck/web-Eyanna-has-always-been-Maliks-primary-caregiver.jpg?w=1920&q=75&auto=compress&format=jpg)
Documenting the life of a New York gang leader paralysed by gun violence
New photobook ‘Say Less’ is a complex yet humanising look into a life wrecked by gun violence and organised crime.
Written by: Isaac Muk
![The woman who defined 80s Hip Hop photography](https://images.huckmag.com/tco/images/Huck/7_ULTRAMAGNETIC-MCS_NYC-1990.jpg?w=1920&q=75&auto=compress&format=jpg)
The woman who defined 80s Hip Hop photography
A new exhibition brings together Janette Beckman’s visionary and boundary pushing images of an era of cultural change and moral panic.
Written by: Miss Rosen
![In photos: the dogs of Dogtown](https://images.huckmag.com/tco/images/Huck/saguy_dogtown_02_RGB.jpg?w=1920&q=75&auto=compress&format=jpg)
In photos: the dogs of Dogtown
A new photobook documents Venice Beach’s four legged friends and their colourful cast of owners.
Written by: Isaac Muk