tHE SLOW Erosion
of Deptford
I began this project in response to the changes taking place on Deptford High Street (Strasser, 2020). I did not want to simply document what was happening remotely. I wanted to use photography to pay attention, get involved, and work alongside the people most affected by decisions about the street. When Lewisham Council proposed pedestrianising the section between New Cross Road and Hamilton Street seven days a week, I joined Save Deptford High Street, a group of local activists opposing the plan (Save Deptford High Street, 2025). Together, we wanted to communicate what we believe is wrong with the High Street and to make visible what local traders, workers, and residents feel is being ignored. The street still closes the market three days a week. The new plan would mean an all-week closure (Lewisham Council, 2025a). At the same time, rents in Deptford have risen by at least 25% (Office for National Statistics, 2025). These pressures affect everyone, from shop owners to staff. The council cites a Living Streets survey indicating support for easier walking (Living Streets, 2018), but many people here feel these changes are not what most local communities want—especially as traders now face tighter margins, higher costs, and less stability. My photography became a way to work with people who live and work here, helping share their views and show what is happening in their public spaces. Using interviews, videos, and testimonies gathered by Save Deptford High Street, I built a body of work that reflects their experiences and intentions, and that traces a widening divide across the High Street. The project shows the contrast between the two sides of Deptford: one fighting to hold on to livelihoods, culture, and connection; the other increasingly shaped by commercial redevelopment and private investment.
The project intentionally guides viewers from Fordham Park, now called Deptford Green by newer residents and re-gentrified for modern London, through the heart of the street, showing its transformation. We can see which parts have been regularly looked after, cleaned, and cleared by the council; enough emanates to keep them like that; the other, the opposite. Yet we find one side full of life, art, hope, and congregation; the other has the typical traits of capitalist architecture: monochromatic, expected, and sterile.
My family has long ties to Deptford. I have lived here for over ten years, and my family has worked here for generations. My grandfather repaired churches after the Second World War and helped restore the Deptford Anchor. This project is an attempt to hold onto what makes the High Street meaningful to those who have always called it home, before change makes it unrecognisable.
Please click on the images They will enlarge.
Refrence List
Augé, M. (1995) Non-Places: Introduction to an Anthropology of Supermodernity. Translated by J. Howe. London: Verso.
Azoulay, A. (2008) The Civil Contract of Photography. New York: Zone Books.
de Certeau, M. (1984) The Practice of Everyday Life. Translated by S. Rendall. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press.
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Lees, L., Slater, T. and Wyly, E. (2008) Gentrification. New York: Routledge.
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Lewisham Council (2025a) Deptford High Street - Commonplace: Have Your Say Today. Available at: https://deptfordhighstreet.commonplace.is/ (Accessed: 22 December 2025).
Lewisham Council (2025b) Transforming Deptford High Street. 2 April. Available at: https://lewisham.gov.uk/articles/news/transforming-deptford-high-street (Accessed: 22 December 2025).
Massey, D. (2005) For Space. London: SAGE.
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Save Deptford High Street (2025) Save Deptford High Street [Instagram profile]. Available at: https://www.instagram.com/savedeptfordhighstreet/ (Accessed: 22 December 2025).
Smith, N. (1996) The New Urban Frontier: Gentrification and the Revanchist City. London: Routledge.
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Zukin, S. (2010) Naked City: The Death and Life of Authentic Urban Places. Oxford: Oxford University Press.List of figures
Figure 1. The Slow Erosion of Deptford High Street, Image 1 (Perry, 2025).
Figure 2. The Slow Erosion of Deptford High Street, Image 2 (Perry, 2025).
Figure 3. The Slow Erosion of Deptford High Street, Image 3 (Perry, 2025).
Figure 4. The Slow Erosion of Deptford High Street, Image 4 (Perry, 2025).
Figure 5. The Slow Erosion of Deptford High Street, Image 5 (Perry, 2025).
Figure 6. The Slow Erosion of Deptford High Street, Image 6 (Perry, 2025).
Figure 7. The Slow Erosion of Deptford High Street, Image 7 (Perry, 2025).
Figure 8. The Slow Erosion of Deptford High Street, Image 8 (Perry, 2025).
Figure 9. The Slow Erosion of Deptford High Street, Image 9 (Perry, 2025).
Figure 10. The Slow Erosion of Deptford High Street, Image 10 (Perry, 2025).
Figure 11. The Slow Erosion of Deptford High Street, Image 11 (Perry, 2025).
Figure 12. The Slow Erosion of Deptford High Street, Image 12 (Perry, 2025).
Figure 13. The Slow Erosion of Deptford High Street, Image 13 (Perry, 2025).
Figure 14. The Slow Erosion of Deptford High Street, Image 14 (Perry, 2025).
Figure 15. The Slow Erosion of Deptford High Street, Image 15 (Perry, 2025).
Figure 16. The Slow Erosion of Deptford High Street, Image 16 (Perry, 2025).
Figure 17. The Slow Erosion of Deptford High Street, Image 17 (Perry, 2025).
Figure 18. The Slow Erosion of Deptford High Street, Image 18 (Perry, 2025).
Figure 19. The Slow Erosion of Deptford High Street, Image 19 (Perry, 2025).
Figure 20. The Slow Erosion of Deptford High Street, Image 20 (Perry, 2025).
Figure 21. The Slow Erosion of Deptford High Street, Image 21 (Perry, 2025).
Figure 22. The Slow Erosion of Deptford High Street, Image 22 (Perry, 2025).
Figure 23. The Slow Erosion of Deptford High Street, Image 23 (Perry, 2025).
Figure 24. The Slow Erosion of Deptford High Street, Image 24 (Perry, 2025).
Figure 25. The Slow Erosion of Deptford High Street, Image 25 (Perry, 2025).
Figure 26. The Slow Erosion of Deptford High Street, Image 26 (Perry, 2025).
Figure 27. The Slow Erosion of Deptford High Street, Image 27 (Perry, 2025).
Figure 28. The Slow Erosion of Deptford High Street, Image 28 (Perry, 2025).
Figure 29. The Slow Erosion of Deptford High Street, Image 29 (Perry, 2025).
Figure 30. The Slow Erosion of Deptford High Street, Image 30 (Perry, 2025).
Figure 31. The Slow Erosion of Deptford High Street, Image 31 (Perry, 2025).
Figure 32. The Slow Erosion of Deptford High Street, Image 32 (Perry, 2025).
Figure 33. The Slow Erosion of Deptford High Street, Image 33 (Perry, 2025).
Figure 34. The Slow Erosion of Deptford High Street, Image 34 (Perry, 2025).
Figure 35. The Slow Erosion of Deptford High Street, Image 35 (Perry, 2025).
Figure 36. The Slow Erosion of Deptford High Street, Image 36 (Perry, 2025).
Figure 37. The Slow Erosion of Deptford High Street, Image 37 (Perry, 2025).
Figure 38. The Slow Erosion of Deptford High Street, Image 38 (Perry, 2025).
Figure 39. The Slow Erosion of Deptford High Street, Image 39 (Perry, 2025).
Figure 40. The Slow Erosion of Deptford High Street, Image 40 (Perry, 2025).
Figure 41. The Slow Erosion of Deptford High Street, Image 41 (Perry, 2025).
Figure 42. The Slow Erosion of Deptford High Street, Image 42 (Perry, 2025).
Figure 43. The Slow Erosion of Deptford High Street, Image 43 (Perry, 2025).
Figure 44. The Slow Erosion of Deptford High Street, Image 44 (Perry, 2025).