Day 16: Yvonne Gyamfi

11 February 2020

What Is Your London?

For many, the idea of London conjures up postcard pictures: the London Eye, Buckingham Palace. However, these depictions of the capital that we’re used to seeing in the media, advertising and the press are outdated. That isn’t the reality for young people living here today. London is nothing without the people that live in it, and each individual has their own story to tell so the participants of Creativity Works: Visual Storytelling were briefed with showing the world what their version of London is, to let the world see their perspective.

This is Yvonne's London...

I Feel You Still

Language is fundamentally a tool for communication. The English Language is in a continuous state of transience; shifting and evolving to meet the needs of each new generation. We often use dictionaries as the rule book instead of a guide to language, but what does it mean when the rules are broken?

I Feel You Still demonstrates the intimacy of communicating in ways often not valued or deemed improper by broader society. Colloquial terms and phrases that gain prominence in small communities and subconsciously build solidarity as well as create unity in people. “I’m not going to say things the ‘right’ way but in ways that are filled with intimacy due to our shared experience.”

Language, when used for connection rather than division or judgement, paints a much more vivid and colourful narrative. Growing up in Newham, East London, there was an understanding of how not to speak in more ‘professional ‘and ‘prestigious’ spaces, how to talk in a way that denotes intellect and demands respect which, ultimately, meant shedding what came naturally to you. But why? These ways of speaking have a purpose far beyond the essential transference of information. These mispronunciations and grammatical inconsistencies lead us to each other, and there is a beauty there —a warmth to that expression.

Someone is hearing you and saying "I understand".