Watching SE11 5HY

In 2008, I left the East side and went further South, South East to be precise.Voho, Vauxhell or Vauxhall its all the same. The fact is that I can remember a lot of things that I saw there, but can’t remember doing many things there.

Vauxhall is a very unique area where the contrasts are rubbed into our faces. In Welcome to Vauxhall, Slater said: ‘Life in Vauxhall is kind of vibrant but in the same time it can be…’ Although he hasn’t finish that sentence, those who know the area would agree that words such as 'sad' or 'rough' could be use to complete his thoughts.

In another production, when asked if Vauxhall was a safe area, a vendor from a off license shop described the are as ‘bulshit’ and a homeless, who was wandering around, criticised the people instead.

The early mornings were the time when the Vauxhall’s diversity would emerge stronger. Because I was doing night shifts at that time, my way from the Bus Station to my home, when returning from work, offered some bizarre scenes. I remember seeing men dressed casually or contritely in suits and ties. Some people on their way to a busy office and others on their way home, red eyed and dilated pupils, to recover from a night of alcohol and drugs abuse. Starbucks and its neighbour building the Big Issue magazine are open. A few homeless and/or heroine/crack users start to wander around the Station, they have just left the hostel nearby.

The buildings around the Station also offer a stark contrast. On one side of the street we can find the MI6 and St George Wharf Apartments where a luxury apartment can cost up to £2.7m and on the other side we can find the Big Issue Magazine office and some of the gay village clubs.

Even though I was able to see all that, I didn’t feel part of it. I lived there for one year, and my experiences within the place were more as an onlooker than anything else. By watching Welcome to Vauxhall, in the future, I expect to remember the things I’ve seem in that crazy place.