D’ANDRE WILLIAMS: FIRST TIME IN LONDON

Wide Edit no.04 photos captured in London

This may or may not have been the most spontaneous decision I’ve ever made in my life. I set out on a trip to London that was supposed to only be two weeks long. I had friends there that I made working/living in New York, so I had a couple of things halfway lined up & some people to meet that I’ve befriended online. The day after I arrived the Queen of England died… crazy. I didn’t realize how crazy it was for about another two weeks. I stayed with a now great friend named Aya who was kind enough to pattern that out for me. She put me on to Alpro strawberry & chocolate milk, we ran many errands together, smoked mad spliffs, & shared a lot about our lives in the time I was there. I arrived with more than enough to get me through the time I spent there, but I blew it very quickly doing the most. There were days I had invoice money, there were days that I was chasing invoices.

I assisted a good homie & amazing photographer, Zaineb Albeque with some photo work landing me on each side of London. I was helping Bangladeshi & Bengali locals load trucks with fish, carpets, lamps, etc. In East London for some cash to get food & in the same week I was getting full-course meals at Soho House for free, meeting people who talked about making me money from art entirely unprovoked. This made my eyes really wide about London, eager to work & show I can do more than just document, but in my eyes, it was all ups no downs. I learned so much from my experiences there, how to save & spend a bean or two, & to follow my gut instinct always.

I saw Madlib and Sam Gellaitry perform live for free thanks to Vicky Grout another great photographer. I went bombing with some guys who paint that I met on the street after catching one of the homies in the crew crossing out somebody else’s piece on a box truck. I drove a boat up the river Thames thanks to my homie Art who I’ve known for over 4 years now.

I played basketball every couple of days at Bethnal Green basketball court & met this guy named Sam who recently moved to East London from South London to pursue his acting career. He’s featured in an upcoming Netflix jawn soon!!! Hyped for him for real. He spoke on the art scene in East London & what it was like growing up in South. I spent a lot of time in South as well. Brixton, Peckham, South Croydon, Streatham & Lewisham. It reminded me the most of “home”. I saw a lot of art in London, I met a lot of people, and I had what seemed like a lifetime's worth of experiences in about a month and a half. I saw one of Josiane M.H. Pozi's live performance pieces at Serpentine Gallery, I skated South Bank, I tried tons of new food, I had beans for breakfast, I smoked hash for the first time & had tons of chicken & chips. I learned how to take the tube very quickly & double-decker buses are now normal to me. I fell in love with London & by the time you’re reading this I’ll already be back to have an even better experience than the first.