Notting Hill in the Nineties

About

In today's Notting Hill you are more likely to be transported by a Range Rover than an Ecstasy tablet. It wasn't always so. In this remarkable show, Sam McConnell's camera explores the Notting Hill of a generation ago. It's people by a crowd - some black, some white, all joyful - who are clearly more interested in the moment than the mortgage. Not just a portrait of a place, more a portrait of the people in it, McConnell's lens captures their exuberance, their warmth, their unalloyed lust for life, with the intimacy of someone who was himself very much part of the group. The show is a celebration of the mood and magic of Notting Hill, humanity at its most vibrant, before the Bohemians were overtaken by the bourgeoisie.