Dominoes is a unique and vibrant mosaic of the lives that float in and around a particular corner of Hackney in London’s East End. The book is populated by intimate pictures of people who have experienced addiction and pain as well as the deep joys of the community of which they are a part. Gillett Square was derelict and underdeveloped for years until, in the 1990s it became an experiment in urban regeneration. Just like the dominoes that are now played in the square, those lives are often precarious.
For ten years Roland Ramanan was privileged to be allowed into the lives and homes of many local residents, to photograph their struggles and their hardships; their families and their lovers. Some of these people are now his friends, others are no longer with us. Dominoes touches on universal themes of love, death, hope and the evolution of urban communities. The work is an honest look into lives that we often ignore; there is sadness but there is also always a sense of hope.
Roland Ramanan is a London based documentary photographer, with a background in music and education. He began photographing around Gillett Square in 2012 and continues to maintain a contact with that community. The work has featured in Vice magazine amongst others and has won various awards including being shortlisted for the Royal Photographic Society documentary awards. Roland was also a finalist in the Portrait of Britain awards. Roland’s current project focuses on the London roller skate scene and its relationship to black culture.
The book includes texts by Richard Yeboa and Roland Ramanan and a poem by Ian McMillan.
