We Are Only Humans: Photographs of Hackney 2001-2009

Photo: Tara Darby

We Are Only Humans: Photographs of Hackney 2001-2009 is a new book by Tara Darby.

Darby moved to Hackney in 2000 and soon took to carrying her camera around with her and taking pictures of local people who caught her eye.

She recounts how she rapidly became enchanted with her surroundings: “I just wanted to take pictures, I didn’t have a preconceived notion of what the series would be.  I let myself see what was there without judgement, and the more I looked the more I saw”.

The resulting series of photographs documents the borough over the eight year period between 2001 and 2009, a period in which parts of Hackney fell prey to gentrification, yet also a period of considerable economic hardship
for many.

The collection offers a fresh and mildly quirky insight in to the denizens of the borough during this time. The photos are mostly portraits, some posed and others more spontaneous. They capture, place, personality and the relationship between the two in a small but compelling series of images.

“The title We are only Humans refers to the beauty in the mundane, strength and dignity; that we are singular, not individuals … sometimes isolated, sometimes united but all part of a larger picture,” explains Darby.

We Are Only Humans: Photographs of Hackney 2001-2009 is published by Miniature Love, 2011, 32pp, 189 x 264 mm, with text by Heidi James, Edition of 100, £10 + postage.