Dontcha love it? First you're told no, maybe, maybe not - wait - wait - wait - we won't commission you because, err, we'll try and get it cheaper somewhere else; and then - uh, sorry, could you please, like, do it NOW?
A story about a sensitive subject such as youth deliquency and crime, social work and day centres is something that ideally is done over a period of time. Although there isn't anything new about under-age kids shooting and knifing each other to death in Britain's capital, it's still difficult to photograph. Before you get to know the head honchos on each patch, gain their trust without being mugged or worse, and before you're allowed to take pictures requires either an awful lot of rapport building, or you simply parachute in and hope for the best.
I must admit I didn't like the parachute option, but my other choice was not to touch the assignment. With a deadline of a little more than 24 hours ahead, I hugged the phone, pleaded, begged and persuaded at least a few people to allow me to visit them, and naturally, shoot them. The meagre results are shown here and the piece ended up running across a double-page, heavily interview/portrait led rather than the reportage I wished I could have done. Some days, it just istn't what you want it to be...
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