On the 15th of October 2011 a number of people from diverse backgrounds and ideologies came together to dispute the culture of greed that exists in the current financial system. They are part of a global movement that is currently 'Occupying' over a 1000 cities worldwide, most famously, Occupy Wall Street. Although the mass media continues to brand the movement 'Anti-Capitalist' in reality the majority of the protestors think that Capitalism is the best system, it’s just been left unchecked and become bloated and corrupt. Originally the protestors planned to 'Occupy' the London Stock Exchange (LSX), however, they fell short of that goal and ended up occupying the space outside it, on the edge of land between the LSX and St Pauls Cathedral.

With this work I aimed to show another side to the Occupiers, to illustrate the level of organisation and compassion that is happening. There are no villains in this photo-series; the only city worker I photographed is depicted donating cheese to the occupiers. Instead I want the images to provoke a wider respect and understanding for what the occupiers are attempting to accomplish, which is draw attention to the inadequacies of our current financial system. From the start I photographed the Occupation only at night, there was something quieter about the place when the tourists and bulk of the media had gone home, the camp really came to life then, despite what some journalists reported.

The spoken word poetry that accompanies the slideshow is of a young black occupier I met called J.J, he’d never had any of his poetry recorded before, and there is something cool about the fact the first and only poem he has ever had recorded was in a tent outside St Pauls Cathedral.

 

  

Ed Thompson - freelance photographer - based in East London - works as a freelance photographer specialising as a reportage photographer portrait photographer and corporate photographer - all photographs copyright Edward Thompson 2011

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Ed Thompson is a documentary photographer and a freelance london photographer based in East London. He works commercially as a freelance portrait photographer, reportage photographer, commercial photographer and corporate photographer. He started studying photography in 2000 at the Kent Institute of Art & Design (now known as University College for the Arts - UCA) during that time he become obsessed with documentary photography that focused on the surreal and the hyperreal. He idolised Diane Arbus, Joel Sternfeld and William Eggleston. In 2002 images from his first experience photographing documentary street photography were exhibited at the Arles Photography festival in an exhibition organised by students of the L'ecole nationale de la photographie. Whilst in Arles he met the Russian photographer Sergei Tchilikov when they were both dancing to DJ Rebel at a private view, Edward later went on to apprentice Sergei in Paris and galvanised his beliefs in the power of documentary photography, and what a friend of Sergei's termed, the ability for photography to all you to touch at something great. On return to KIAD to complete his BA degree he researched the origin of street photography and in particular the photographs and writings of Henri-Cartier Bresson, in many minds Bresson is great for his photography, but he was also great in his integrity. In 2007 he studied the MA degree in photojournalism & doucmentary photography, based in south london at the London College of Communication, formerly known as the London College of Printing. During the MA as well as working on various documentary photo-essays on Miniature Steam trains, Living Historians he also completed a substantial body of work photographing in the Texas Hill Country. Images from these photography projects have been published in international photography festivals, in galleries, magazines, newspapers and on television.His coverage of the Folkestone earthquake in April 2007 featured in every national newspaper, most notably on the front page of the Sunday Times newspaper. He graduated in 2008 with a 1st class distinction for the body of work he completed during the Masters Degree at L.C.C. He most recemtly completed award winning work on battery hen farming, receiving a special prize and honourable mention at the Magnum Photo Agency/Ideastap photographic award. He is represented by Luz Photo Agency.

All the photographs on this website were shot on photographic colour negative film, he works commercially being both a film photographer, and a digital photographer for a number of clients in London and in Kent.

All photographs copyright Edward Thompson 2011