the Grenfell legacy

Fire fighters pouring water on to remnants of Grenfell Tower in London, UK

Local residents looking at photos of victims of the fire disaster at the Grenfell Tower

Flower offerings for victims of the fire disaster at the Grenfell Tower in London

Visitors writing notes of condolence for victims of the fire disaster at the Grenfell Tower in London

Local residents near site of the fire disaster at the Grenfell Tower in London

Public meeting of survivors of Grenfell Tower fire at Notting Hill Methodist Church

Latimer Road underground station before closure due to debris from fire at Grenfell Tower

Paul Menacer, 23, survivor of Grenfell Tower fire of 14th June 2017, addressing public meeting of local residents

Rally held by survivors and neighbours of the Grenfell Tower housing block fire disaster at Parliament Square in London

Silent vigil by survivors and neighbours of the Grenfell Tower housing block fire disaster walk past its burnt-out remnants in London

Young homeless man sleeping under railway bridge with graffiti art in London

Homeless man with bedding looking for a place to sleep in a run-down local authority council housing estate in London

Leaflets from local neighbours against demolition of the Cressingham Gardens low-rise council housing estate in Lambeth, south London

Chalcots council housing estate resident Mandy Ryan, who had to evacuate her flat for fire safety issues

Resident of tower block with gas leak emergency carrying electric hot plates donated by council in Southwark, London

Old and rusty gas meters in a derelict housing estate in Birmingham

Luxury housing development project in the Strand, London, abandoned and with uncertain future after contractor Carillion went into liquidation leaving many contracts unfinished in the whole of the UK

Anti-homeless spikes and rough surfaces installed in a luxury housing complex to deter homeless people from sleeping in the area around the Limehouse Basin marina in London

Small business under railway arches by train and overground station, to be redeveloped to build luxury housing and new fashionable shops in Hackney, London

Local authority council houses boarded up to be refurbished or demolished in Westminster, London

Old council social housing block by the old Elephant and Castle shopping centre, to be demolished to give way to a new mall and luxury housing in London, England

New stadium and luxury housing development in the grounds of Tottenham Hotspurs football ground in London

Views of the City financial district of London from a derelict warehouse in Peckham, London

Construction worker next to demolition site building new office blocks and luxury housing in Liverpool

Mother and child walk past closed down shops in derelict council housing estate to be demolished to build new luxury housing blocks in London

the grenfell legacy

I first visited the charred remains of the Grenfell Tower in Notting Hill, London, on the morning after the fire took its terrible toll.

I carried on documenting the aftermath of the tragedy during the following weeks, which moved me to write a poem: Requiem 4 Grenfell which has been published, along with my images and a voice-over

by Alex Etchart, by the

New Internationalist magazine.

I was then moved to follow part of the trail that led to inadequacies in many other council properties; a quest that inevitably took me to explore some of the broader issues that have created the huge social housing crisis in London and the rest of the UK. My initial reportage on those topics was published in Trebuchet magazine.

Julio Etchart

documentary photographer

visual journalist