SANA BADRI Studio 9 The Market

SANA BADRI Studio 9 The Market

After 111 years of serving West London, and having already faced over a decade of uncertainty – including traders overturning a government Compulsory Purchase Order in 2016 and resisting multiple redevelopment and real estate companies – Shepherd’s Bush Market is once again under threat of redevelopment.

These portraits show the traders, shoppers, and community members of Bush Market. The empty Plot 9 was set up in the tradition of North and West African studio portraiture shops. The backdrop is intentionally ambiguous – vaguely familiar yet placeless – and sitters confidently declare the location: ‘this is definitely Bosnia’, ‘this is just like Algeria, without the statues, beautiful’. But if you look too closely, the scene is glaringly false.

Oval Press

Oval Press, quiet publishing, books from the edges of photography, literature and research. Founded by Max Ferguson in 2022.