Architecture is a photography exhibition by Georgina Cook. It's on at Antenna Studios, Haynes Lane, Crystal Palace until November 29th. Haven't checked it out yet, but it looks promising.Georgina Cook is the Crystal Palace-based photographer and basshead behind the excellent Drumz of the South. She has some good photos of the area at the site, and some interesting thoughts on the Crystal Palace cinema campaign: 'Who wants a business orientated church in the art-deco building that used to house the Bingo Hall (once originally a cinema)? And who wants an independent art-house cinema? Hmmm......hmmmmmmmmm. No Brainer? I'm a creative type, I oughta want a cinema; and I do... BUT I worry that it will yuppify this area even more that it's already yuppified over the past few years and that I should I decide to stay in the area (largely because my family are near) or should I decide to leave and then come back when I'm older and should be living somewhere like here, will property be even more costly partially as a result of a cinema?'. A reminder that gentrification is not victim-free - rising house prices mean that people who grew up in an area often have no chance of getting a place to live there themselves when they leave the family home.
Also check out her collection of South London photos on Flickr, including quite a few from La Cronx itself (that's Croydon to you).
Posts
2 comments:
Can high house prices be blamed on cinemas? In nearby East Dulwich there is no cinema but far higher house prices than around the CP Triangle. While in Peckham there is a cinema and yet much lower house prices. Frankly there are adverse house prices everywhere. Is this an argument for cutting back on community amenities? Local businesses? Ho hum.
I would like to see cinemas in Crystal Palace, New Cross, East Dulwich and many other places that don't currently have them. I can't speak for Georgina, but my reading is that she would like more cinemas too. I don't think she is saying that cinemas cause house price increases, rather that new arthouse cinemas, cafes etc. - desirable as they may be in themselves - can also be signifiers of a gentrification of an area that squeezes out some people who grew up there. One person's 'up and coming area' is another person's 'I can't afford to live here any more'.
Post a Comment