Echoes of Angels
This project combines residents’ photographs of Fore Street and the surrounding area in Angel Edmonton with recorded conversations of local residents.
The images were taken by participants of smartphone photography workshops led by professional photographer Williamz Omope.
The recorded conversations with local residents focused on their lived experiences of Angel Edmonton, exploring the past, present and future, to create a current oral history of the area.
The conversations were recorded and edited by sound artist and Social Broadcaster Lucia Scazzocchio.
You can listen to a soundscape that takes you on a journey through Fore Street meeting different residents along the way, and clips of conversations with residents.
A printed publication that combines the residents’ photographs with extracts of recorded conversations from the soundscape has been created and shared with the community. You can view a digital version here.
Thank you to Williamz Omope for facilitating the photography workshops, Lucia Scazzochio for the audio production and sound design, Jeng Au for the graphic design of the printed publication, the participants of workshops, residents of Angel Edmonton, and Enfield Council for funding this project through Untold Edmonton.
Cover image by Gaby
Listen to the full soundscape
Tahira
“I really enjoy when big meals are made and all the family comes together. Especially for me growing up in a single-parent household, where it’s just us two, I really enjoyed those events. Those days where my mum would make a really big meal, bringing all the family and friends together. Big meals with the whole family, with traditional Nigerian food.”
Image by Yuting
Charlie
“We were so busy it was ridiculous. You just can’t imagine it now. What I sell in a week now, we’d have sold in about ten minutes. There were three stalls here and about seventeen people involved in them. But at my time of life, it suits me being this way. I couldn’t cope with it. Financially, it sounds stupid, but I do it as a hobby. I haven’t got any customers I don’t get on with, they’re all people I’ve known for years.”
Image by Olivia
Simone
“This area is a very historic area. It was the main road from London into Hertfordshire. You have the poem of John Gilpin, who stayed at where the Gilpin’s Bell is because there were pubs all along the way. He couldn’t control his horse who was supposed to stop in Edmonton and ended up in Hertfordshire.”
Image by Ron
Mumtaz
“The first time we drove up the M1 I quite liked the area because it was buzzy, crowded, lots of cultures. We could see that it was very multi-cultural, and I usually like that kind of area. So I actually liked it at first sight.”
Image by Elena
Alf
“I’m more optimistic really. I’m hoping it’s going to improve. Certainly the shops are looking a lot better than they did five years ago.”
Image by Olivia
Caroline
“If you were loitering around the street you never knew who you could meet. Knowing my luck it was a family friend, asking what I’m doing or whether I’ve come from school… Those memories have been etched into my mind. I do still have some old school friends that are local. Every now and then, though we might not be so close now, but when we do happen to bump into each other, it’s just picking up from where we left off. So I think that community, recognition, and familiarity is brilliant.”
Image by Sohalia
Kasim
“It’s more culturally diverse. We have the Somali community on the corner, various Turkish and Kurdish restaurants. I think it’s a positive thing. It’s not the most highly financed area but I think the community gets on. Obviously there’s room for improvement and I think change is coming.”
Image by Elena
Emily
“You will find Fore Street to be buzzing. Fore Street is full of life.”
Image by Gaby
Cellina
“There’s a Portuguese cafe called Gaby’s. It’s a lovely small nondescript place that sells Portuguese delicacies. Give it a try. And just across the road from Gaby’s there’s a street where there’s a small grocery that sells lovely fruit and vegetables. Give them a try. And then up the road there’s a Somali shop. They sell very interesting stuff. They seem to have a bit of everything. It would be nice to explore that shop because for those that have never been able to go to a Somali shop, I think they’d be welcomed.”
Image by Anita
Yuting
“There’s an incredible array of international food options. I think food is the thing that brings people together on this high street. There are shops catering for all different sorts of communities. It’s colourful, it’s noisy, it’s bustling, and it’s just really a vibrant place.”
Image by Yuting
Carshena
“The other day I went down the same road I grew up on. When I was a kid the place looked so big, so wide. We used to think we had a whole football pitch on that road, even though there were cars parked either side. We used to play basketball, netball, knock-down-ginger. But when I went down there it was like the road was enclosed. It looks completely smaller.”
Image by Richard
Keith
“Things started disappearing. The regular things we knew. The shops changed, different people came in there, different trades. You can’t describe it really. It’s a gradual change.”
Image by Joe