Kareem Abdul found photography early. Captivated by his experience in the darkroom of his east London secondary school, he started making candid portraits of friends and family with an old Polaroid camera and expired film. He found the experience exhilarating, finding a way to express himself quickly.

From there, he met other creatives at his local youth club and was given access to art workshops and resources, which opened his mind to the potential of visual storytelling. Portraiture became his focus, documenting the characters and community in Dalston, where his parents owned a small shop. While fashion wasn’t his primary point of interest, his images chased the subtle style and identity codes of his sitters, capturing the pulse of the street.

While his work celebrates community and self-expression, picture-making is also political for Abdul. “Working-class people are often dealt with negative representation,” he says. “My drive has always been to celebrate how amazing they are and capture them in a beautiful light.