Ready, Set, Squat!!!

Squatters help construct a city that is not based on consumption or one that follows institutionalized aestheticism. Squatter’s views of aesthetics and aestheticism differs from that of the city populous at large, theirs is a culture that is unrefined, alternative, with a focus on creativity mainly through bricolage activities. This branch of squatting can be related to Western Marxism and the rise of Marxist Geography within the 1970s. Generally, squatters do not belong to the upper class, they do not follow, what David Harvey calls, the excessive logics of accumulation like that of the city tourist; squatters locate or buy items out of necessity, refraining from buying items as symbols of wealth, power or prestige.

Taken with a one Euro camera these photos are meant to be forensic, intimate and ‘anti-aesthetic’. They are personal images and highlight some of the moments of understanding and insight I experienced while spending time with the squatter-grade subclass of Londoners.