CRUSONS: 36 Reasons To Love Camberwell. Open Edition, Signed (40x30cm)
CRUSONS: 36 Reasons To Love Camberwell. Open Edition, Signed (40x30cm)
36 Reasons To Love Camberwell is a personal snapshot of the places I love in Camberwell and visit shot in 2012. The criteria for inclusion was that I know the people in the photos and that I like visiting them. Cruson's has become the best known image of the series, and rightly so. Aris and Maria are icons of Camberwell and in Aris’ own words- on seeing the exhibition being set up in the Hermit's Cave- he is the "King of Camberwell"!
Since then much has changed and in May 2019 Aris finally retired after 46 (or maybe 48!) years. I made a small video about the shop, spending a few weeks filming everyone working throughout the day. You can see the preview video here: CRUSON’S VIDEO.
So now is your last chance to collect a little bit of history and take home one of these prints. This would make a wonderful present for all you Camberwellians out there.
Signed prints.
There are also prints that come on Hahnemühle German Etching Paper, using the Giclee print process (think really good quality watercolour paper).
Print size: 30x20cm (total paper size 40x30cm).
Frames are 42 x 32cm to fit the prints. Please note, only black frames are available at the moment for this size.
The seed for this now iconic image from the series 36 Reasons To Love Camberwell started when I got to know the people in the United Superstore, or “Africa” as I know it*. I was walking down Camberwell Church Street on the way to Africa with my wife talking about doing a photo and we started to wonder what other photos I might do as well. I came up with a list of 36 places that I love in Camberwell, and a photography project was born.
(*I mistakenly called it the United Africa Store when I first went there)
I was also fed up of people moaning about how there was nowhere to shop in Camberwell, that it’s “all bookies, 99p stores, and nail bars”. Not only is this incorrect but even if it were true, it seems more of a middle-class gripe about how Camberwell isn’t like East Dulwich (thank God I say!) than a genuine reflection of the reality. There are relatively few chain stores in Camberwell (although they are creeping in) and yes, these independent stores may not look like boutiques, and may look a bit shambolic, but they are fantastic places to visit, with (mostly) lovely, warm and friendly people in them. I agree that the saturation of bookmakers has no place on the high street, but for the rest of them these are successful businesses and do very well thank you very much.