Tall apartment building and smaller blue house with a sloped roof under overcast sky.

Swedish Born Photographer
X
Johanna Stroud

A person wearing an oversized light blue outfit stands on a city street with shops and parked cars lining the sidewalk, under a cloudy sky.

The editorial was inspired of my experience of me moving to London from Sweden. I notice that a city can be so different from which part of the city you live in. As a tourist you just experience the part you see in the movies. The stereotypical idea of London. Pretty, cute houses, afternoon tea and pubs, but London is much more than that. All parts in London are like small communities, and you also get very easily judged when you tell where you live in London, even when you apply for jobs. It’s very important to put you in a place when it comes to class and status. London is beautiful in all parts, but it made me realise how class still plays a big role in our society. 

I’m fed up with the idea of money and status and how highly validated it is. Because it doesn't say anything about a persons soul and personality. Everything is on the surface and makes me feel empty inside. The society right now is so focused on showing of and pretend, for social media and for each other, it feels like a bubble. All these thoughts made me think about punk and grunge and how I could relate to the lyrics and the music. I started to listen to the music and walked in the surroundings  where I live in South East of London, and everything looked so beautiful and real in some kind of way. I started to look at locations in a different way and I saw beautiful details in the everyday life not polished, just real. I started to appreciate the everyday life surroundings.

Foggy urban scene with a residential high-rise building, cyclists, and cars on the street.
Foggy urban street with a tall apartment building, cars, and cyclists in London.
Person in patterned clothing walking along a quiet street with brick buildings and satellite dishes on the wall.
Person sitting on curb wearing a patterned dress and white boots, leaning on arms, blurred wall background.

Model:
Liva Reira @livareira // Wilhelmina Models

Stylist:
Gemma Eve Pullen @paleaesthetic

Makep artist:
Naomi Hashida @naomihashida

Photographer:
Johanna Stroud @johannastroud