An eye opener

I first moved to Tower Hamlets in 1979 when I was seventeen. I've lived elsewhere since.  I have tried rural Cambridgeshire, monastic life in France and Hell's Kitchen in New York, and at least a dozen places in between. I enjoyed them all but time and time again I have returned to Tower Hamlets.

I often ask myself why.

This evening I gained some insight.

An extraordinary exhibition of photographs by the likes of Andrew Grainger, Abdul Hamid, and several others, who were either not born or elsewhere when I arrived, has captured the spirit of this amazing place.

As Abdul Hamid says : "I like to draw links between words and pictures to create small stories that people can read into."

I urge you. Go see the pictures. Talk to the people who created them. And wherever you live, learn how to root yourself as they have done.