London Homeless - Gideon Mendel

Caz lies outside a shop on a Sunday morning.

Homeless London

I took this series of images of homeless people in London in 1992. Thatcher’s economic reforms had lead to a significant rise in homelessness at the time, particularly amongst teenagers.

The use of black and white seemed to allow for images that were more emotional, graphic and intimate.

A homeless man begs for money.

Alex and David rest outside a shop on the Strand.

Sheltering in a box on the Strand.

Resting in a doorway outside Crisis, a charity that offers a seven-day shelter for the homeless at Christmas time.

A man with his dog.

A teenage boy sniffs glue as he waits for a cold-weather shelter to give him a bed for the night.

Life on the street.

Caz and Bob kiss on the Strand.

Sleeping outside a theatre on the Strand.

Gary and Paul sleep in an underpass beneath Waterloo Bridge.

David sits outside a nightclub on the Strand where he spent the night begging.

Sleeping on the streets.

Beneath a blanket.