A photojournalism student at the University of the Arts London captured the impacts of gentrification in Finsbury Park.
Flora Grant describes photojournalism being her passion and states she can capture every small detail, even mundane things.
She has documented day-to-day life in the area while residing in student accommodation.
Her inspiration comes from British photojournalist, Don McCulin as she admires the way his photographs portray war scenes without glorification.
According to the Urban Displacement Project and their London Neighbourhood Typologies, Finsbury Park is a descending neighborhood.
This means there is segregation between higher and lower income areas within Finsbury Park, placing the neighborhood at the bottom of level 1 gentrification.
Despite being at level 1, there are notable developments that have changed the area including the refurbishment of the station in 2018.
Flora recognises the changes that have occurred.
She said: “There’s new developments everywhere.
“The station and restaurants are redone.
“It’s lovely but there’s a clear divide.
“You leave a few meters from the station, and it’s just the older version of North London.”
Grant has used her skills to capture the contrast between gentrified versus non-gentrified Finsbury.
One example is the main station and the area surrounding it with the new buildings like Marks and Spencer’s.
She added: “I feel like they are ignoring the deprived area of Finsbury with all the new buildings and it’s attracting more upper class people.
“This makes it easier for me to capture the gentrification happening.
“But despite this Finsbury’s diversity is great.”
The website IanVisits says: “It’s the third-busiest station outside central London, with over 30 million customers using the station in 2018.”
“It’s also a station that has developed piecemeal over the decades.”
Image credits: Flora Grant
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