People of Portobello is a cultural and lifestyle project that will create and promote a photographic library, with supporting interviews and text, to capture the culture of the community in the area of Portobello Road.

We feel passionately that there are few places in the world encapsulating such a harmonious diversity and collection of characters as Portobello, whether it be people of different personalities, languages, races, cultures, bank accounts, religions or philosophies on life. We believe this should be celebrated and communicated as an example for other communities. Far too often in other areas of London, other cities and other parts of the world, the norm is for a compartmentalisation of different ‘social groups’. People like to surround themselves only with what is similar and the illusion of comfort, whereas we should always strive to understand and immerse ourselves in what is different and new.

With this in mind, ‘People of Portobello’ has two key purposes: firstly, it is intended as a celebration of the wonderful collection of people that make the life in the community so enjoyable; secondly, and perhaps more importantly, it is also a message on the importance of diversity and a real life example of where this can work so well. There is a risk, we fear, that if we do not embrace and celebrate this diversity that in time even Portobello will become subject to the tide of social separation and so we hope this serves to preserve something very special.