The birth of Grime in London by Simon Wheatley

Originally from London, Simon has been photographing since 1997. With the media "boom" in 2000, he was present, capturing intimate moments of the people who inhabit the city and the city itself. Grime emerged around the same time and, while still being undervalued, Simon extensively documented its birth and became - accidentally - the main chronicler of Grime.

Ruff Sqwad, Mile End, 2005

THE BEGINNING

Upon buying a camera in 1997, Simon started photographing the city. At that time, he was living in Brazil and was in his third year of History here. Later, due to pressures from England, Simon finally began to find himself and also found freedom in photography. After traveling the world living in different places, such as Prague, Budapest, Singapore, and Amsterdam, he realized that being a photographer was truly what he wanted for himself. Photography was like an extension of his studies.

Salvador, 2004

Salvador, 2004

INFLUENCE OF SEBASTIÃO SALGADO

After spending a year in Brazil and returning to England, Simon discovered the work of Brazilian Sebastião Salgado and identified with the political nature of his work.

"Salgado was extremely fundamental for me, but not experimental."

Salgado was exiled by the military government of Brazil in the late 60s, and Simon saw him as a revolutionary figure - who inspired him to find the path that photography provided him. As Wheatley had the desire to travel the world, that’s what he did - and it was photography that came to represent this quest for freedom.

"Photography helped me embark on a journey of discovery both around the world and within myself. It has been an internal journey as much as an external one."

SOCIAL DOCUMENTATION

At that time, Simon was only interested in the culture of housing estates and the socio-political issues surrounding them in London. Unintentionally, he found himself encountering Grime, which was emerging in the early 2000s in the British capital. His analytical approach made him stand out from other photographers of the time - the "deep expression of frustration, anguish, and alienation" was what truly interested him, Simon affirms. This reflected the situations happening around London.

Lambeth Walk, 1998

Lambeth Walk, 1998

The raw and unfiltered energy of the streets reflected in grime fascinated the photographer. At the time, the style was a very hungry sound - and this can be seen in Wheatley’s photos: everyone is caught in the moment and that’s what truly fascinated him. Being a nighttime genre, the nights seemed to last forever and the energy never stopped. When Dizzee Rascal won the Mercury Prize, the dreams coming from the street became tangible.

"People had something to aspire to: grime was no longer just an underground dream."

Giggs, 2010

Simon sees music as a reflection of the people, and his photography is that too. He documents subcultures and musical subcultures, and the people are as important as the music itself.

"I have always been about capturing a moment, making good photos. Photography for me is a pursuit of perfection, and when it comes to composition, I am very, very specific and classic in my approach. I am fundamentally a photographer who happened to come across this music, rather than a fan who picked up a camera. It was never about who was famous - when I took my first photo of Skepta in 2005, I didn’t know who he was."

Skepta, 2007

DON'T CALL ME URBAN!

Published in 2010, the book is still considered the most comprehensive and culturally accurate historical record of the genre to this day. The book attempts to look beyond the perceived glamour of saying "Black is cool," to look at the reality of what it was at that time. To take "urban" culture and strip it of its glamour.

"'Urban' has become a limiting concept for the black community, a prison of the mind, and I hope the series of photographic experiments I eventually put together in DCMU reflects my experience of the 'ghetto' and encourages some contemplation about it."

Kano, 2004

At the beginning of the movement, grime artists were caught in a paradox: on one hand, associating themselves with the luxury and materialism of US hip-hop, and on the other, with the reality of life in underfunded housing estates. Wheatley states: "The title of the work is inspired by the discrepancy that exists between the 'cool' perceptions of black culture, on one hand, and, on the other, the often harsh reality of actually being black in a London housing estate."

"I never sought grime, I was just there when grime happened. When I first heard it, I could see the music in the photos I was already taking. That tension, that anguish, that deviation: I realized they were reflections of a youth crisis that was emerging around the turn of the century, around 2002."

PHOTOGRAPHING LONDON

A history student with a need to convey this political-social bias in his photography, his project started as a study of the architecture of housing estates from the late 60s and early 70s, which was being demolished throughout the capital. The architecture, viewed as “futuristic,” made no sense with the future that was coming.

"It’s a paradox that the brutalist buildings were being torn down when they were not even 30 years old. I was interested in this logic, where this futuristic architecture was so inadequate for the future. When I first heard grime, I thought about that, and it’s interesting to see how it’s growing and adapting as it gains more mainstream attention and larger stages."

In Lambeth Walk, a street that was once very famous in London, the project really began: it was an area facing unemployment and extreme changes. He occasionally spent his time documenting older people who did not leave their homes but also the young people wandering around. That’s when he realized that the behavior of the younger generation had changed.

"The first 'gang' of youths I photographed were young people I had seen growing up on Lambeth Walk. They also saw me wandering with an old camera and probably thought I was a bit strange, certainly not a threat like an undercover cop. I would stay close to them for short periods until they got bored of me being there, when they could become dangerous. It helped that one of them had a brother who was a DJ for whom I had done some work, but that only went so far."

THE SAID GRIME

Later, he moved to East London and saw grime flourish. There, he was really recognized as a music photographer and was already working for the underground magazine RWD. At the time, the genre was heard through illegal radio stations, it wasn’t really seen.

"I was mainly driven by the desire to explore the social realities of a confrontational sound"

D Double E

Akala

Today, grime has progressed to become mainstream, experiencing a resurgence around 2014. Clearly, it has also opened doors for other genres to emerge from the same social base and achieve the same notoriety. Wheatley sees grime as a crucial part of placing the UK on the map of hip-hop culture, which emerged as a shadow from across the ocean - making people feel that the genre itself must always remain true to its base. Grime is to London what hip-hop is to New York: the raw and organic musical expression of black youth living in an impoverished neighborhood of a bright city.

"The original grime will always be original grime. But evolution is the nature of things, and human history shows that resurgences are always part of us too. (…) I want to remind everyone where grime came from."

Skepta, 2007

Emerging from a “dark” place, when social mobility was difficult and youth were disillusioned with life and work prospects, today, its ability to flourish globally is promising. Whether through a sense of community, attitude, or the skill and talent of the artists.

"Now it doesn’t seem so dark as it once did. It doesn’t seem to be coming from such darkness, although it is still a very tough place. There is hope, and these people are positive."