It’s that time of the year once again!
The most vibrant walking simulator where West London becomes a bass-filled street party where there’s a different sound on every street, smells of Caribbean and other world foods tempt the noses of all, and everyone seeks a good time.
I’ve been going to Notting Hill Carnival since its return from COVID and I plan to hit it again and again to document my day.
Unlike past years, this was my first time going solo. The pro of this is that I don’t have to watch out for anyone and can just focus on getting photos. And considering that I filled the clip, culled nearly 600 out of that and ended up with a set totalling 460, safe to say I succeeded.
The con is that there’s not much of a story for me to tell! I made a plan to find spots, spend 10-15 minutes there and then off to the next spot.
So whilst I succeeded in a big way, getting probably my biggest edited set ever, it was to the detriment of my storytelling.
But with such a big set, means that I have more bangers to choose from. So that’s what I’m going to do. Hit you with highlights from every spot (& shots in between) and providing context if needed.
So let’s begin at Paddington Station!
The most notable thing I gleaned from this year is the sheer amount of Police that was on the ground. Statistics say that since NHC returned after COVID, 7,000+ Met Police officers have been deployed every year.
Maybe it was because I was solo and walked about more in previous years but it felt like more. Even whilst leaving Paddington there was Live Facial Recognition and I saw someone getting led out in handcuffs.
528 arrests were made during the festivities this year, but as you will see, I got a few shots of people getting searched and arrested.
I love the storytelling in that last photo. Couple Black bruddas in the background with Police outnumbering them as they get searched with a few white people just walking on by.
Anyways, I get to my first proper spot just before the floats come in and start catching the variety of fits.
I find Carnival fashion fascinating. The levels of thought put into fits really stretch the entire gamut. And let me just say, “Don’t wear Jamaica gear” challenge: Impossible Difficulty!
You’ll see my fit soon but ladies & gentlemen we ARE aware this is inherently a Carnival with Trinidadian roots? Again – I’m being hypocritical with my fit – but boy the amount of gold & green was jarring.
Case in point: my next spot.
I know you double-taked at them two guys…!
Anyways, apart from the phone-in Jamaica gear from a lot of people, I genuinely love the variety of what we consider cultural intersections to Carnival. I walk past the float path hullaballoo and keep shooting
I then arrive at a bit of a choke point with a float on the horizon, so I get as much as possible before the float comes.
It might seem I’m averse to floats but I’m not, I’m just not trying to be in anybody’s way. I catch some of the aforementioned float in the midst of people trying to navigate.
I then keep moving past a myriad of food spots on the way to a main road.
I judge my fits on the weather for the day. It was pushing 30 degree at its height on this day so Houston Rockets throwback it was!
At this point everywhere I went was well populated so I spent more time in the next few spots, slightly changing up with careful thought on where the sunlight was heading.
The back of my neck took a few beatings with The Sun behind me that is for sure!
We now turn onto a main road (sorry, I’m not looking up street names.) and cover probably my favourite area with a litany of food spots and the GOAT Channel One Soundsystem close by.
All the photos you have see up to this point were done with my 75mm lens.
At this point in my day, I was about halfway through my photo count so I took a free space on the kerb and switched to my 35mm lens.
We stay on the main road…
Shout out to that last guy who was trying to have people turn around to only be ignored. He tried!
With the line of volunteers blocking off the road, I take a left instead to find a new spot…
And then I find (I think) SHY FX playing a set. So I hang around and let the shots fly…
Quick story with the prior mini-set. Those that frequent my portfolio know that I covered Lila Iké
last year. I've personally been a fan of her music for a few years now.
So imagine my face when I look into my camera, focus up and then see none other than Lila AND Protoje walk right past me.
I was dumbfounded for literally a second but that was enough for them and their little entourage to dive into the crowd behind me and go beyond my reach. I did manage to get a couple shots of her top tier afro and a side profile through the smoke.
But I'll always think about that perfect shot I had, only for me to malfunction for that fraction of a second.
Also, you see that guy at the end?
I caught up with him 10 minutes later because he was getting searched…
We move swiftly on.
After another little walk, I caught a sound system at the perfect moment…
Say it with me now…
IT’S LIKE CANDY!
Always fun getting people dancing to “Candy”.
Anyway,s it w was at this point I walked in a bit of a circle to avoid wading through crowds but the bangers kept coming regardless…
My photo count and the time I was thinking of leaving were close to perfect sync, so I started making my way back to Paddington but trust, it took a while. Which is good because using my manual 35mm lens forces me to be more selective.
So a couple of context items here. I posted on Reddit some of my photos which included what has been named “Puke Boy”. It brought up conversation about Street Photography and the fact that I got a picture of somebody not in their best light.
And my response to that is this. Street Photography has fluid definitions, my personal definition is something simple like “Coverage of life outside as it goes by”. This whole post is my personal account of NHC. Every photographer that went there had a different experience. A lot of them covered floats and all the extravagant fits. I cover a guy sitting in his own vomit! It’s simply what I saw.
That being said, if he hit me up and asked me to delete the photo then I would.
At the same time I took that photo, there was a kick-off involving a dog! The white guy you see sitting down was after the kick-off because he thought it was a good idea to throw hands at a brudda with a big ass dog in tow. He got his tracksuit ripped and I moved on after that.
We reach our penultimate mini-set where The Sun was beginning to wind down and I was looking to dip.
So what is my last mini-set you ask? Well, to link to my next post after this, I thought it would be fun to collate all of one key element of Carnival for me personally.
The Graffiti!
And that’s Notting Hill Carnival through my lens.
It was a very refreshing experience hitting Carnival on my own. A lot of people were confused when I said that I went on my own but I enjoyed being completely present and aware of my surroundings.
This event comes once a year and is under threat every year from outside forces. But people need to realise the cultural significance of this event.
It is NOT Carni… It is Carnival. Long may it continue. Until next year…
Charlie Taylor
chillicharlie.taylor@gmail.com
Born in Camden, North London.
Bred in Leigh-On-Sea, Essex.
Screenwriter/Podcaster/Photographer/
Hip-Hop Student.