07.07.17
collector’s edition Cover by
jamie hewlett
london united
Paying tribute to the city’s resilience in the face of tragedy and terror Featuring six souvenir covers by Ai Weiwei, Wolfgang Tillmans, Anish Kapoor, Gillian Wearing, Antony Gormley and Jamie Hewlett
EDITOR’S LETTER LAURA WEIR
Here, in their own words, are the ES cover artists
ANISH KAPOOR ‘We grieve together and then we know, together we must glow.’
AI WEIWEI ‘This is from Odyssey, which was recently shown in Jerusalem.’
I have never gained as much comfort from anywhere or anyone as I do from London. I truly think she’s mine — in the way that you think she is your city; we are each in our own way possessive, protective and largely faithful to our magnificent metropolis. With this London United Collector’s Edition of ES Magazine and its six unique covers, I wanted to pay tribute to the capital’s resilience in the face of recent tragedies — at Westminster, Borough, Finsbury Park, the Grenfell Tower atrocity — and to commemorate the 7/7 anniversary of the London bombings, which fell on this day 12 years ago. This issue is designed to spread a message of hope and respect, and to create an enduring platform that will keep these stories alive. To my immense pride, artist after artist signed up, although they were given just days to create their cover. Gillian Wearing’s ambitious idea — to capture 52 Londoners, standing for a minute’s silence to commemorate the 52 people who lost their lives in the 7/7 terrorist attacks — would usually take far longer to turn around. But my team were determined, drafting in the public from the street outside the studio to star in the shoot. Wolfgang Tillmans, the legendary photographer, initially declined to contribute due to prior commitments. The following evening, however, he emailed saying that while travelling home on the Tube inspiration had struck. The image you see on his cover, bearing the powerful words ‘London, Light, Hope’, was taken in that very moment. Anish Kapoor’s piece powerfully conveys exactly the optimistic sensibility that I had hoped this issue would achieve. Antony Gormley’s cover was inspired by him reflecting on how ‘resilience and common sympathy occurs with every precious existence’ — how beautiful is that? Jamie Hewlett came up with his almighty, rousing concept in 24 hours. And then, of course, there’s Ai Weiwei, who submitted an excerpt from a recently created piece, Odyssey. The sheer attention to detail is staggering. I am in awe of these people and their generosity. Inside, we meet the Londoners who became heroes when terror struck — it is without question the most moving piece I have ever edited. Plus, we present a shoot with photographer Charlie Kwai as he documents Londoners in their natural habitats. Ben Machell writes beautifully about London’s enduring spirit, My London is Roy ‘Lion of London Bridge’ Larner and Grace Dent returns to El Pastor in the heart of Borough. I am so proud of everyone involved in making this issue, thank you. London is an unapologetic metropolis; beautifully foreign yet deeply familiar, it’s proudly regal yet refreshingly informal, creative and poised; it is the sacred and the profane, the greatest living example of life there is and we are lucky to be here to love it. Enjoy this issue; please seek out all six covers, they are scattered across town. And tell your friends that there’s collectable art on the streets for free this Thursday and Friday.
WOLFGANG TILLMANS ‘London. Light. Hope — Wolfgang Tillmans, 2017.’
JAMIE HEWLETT ‘The way people pull together is a multicoloured show of strength.’
GILLIAN WEARING ‘Silence brings everyone together in universal participation.’
ANTONY GORMLEY ‘The liquidity of consciousness gives immediate access to joy and trauma.’
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Editor Laura Weir Deputy editor Anna van Praagh Features director Alice-Azania Jarvis Acting art director Wendy Tee Fashion director Nicky Yates Fashion features director Katrina Israel Commissioning editor Dipal Acharya Beauty editor Katie Service Associate features editor Hamish MacBain
Jonny Cochrane
Features writer Frankie McCoy Lifestyle assistant Lily Worcester
Acting art editor Andy Taylor Art editor Jessica Landon Picture editor Helen Gibson Picture desk assistant Clara Dorrington Social media editor Natalie Salmon Office administrator/editor’s PA Niamh O’Keeffe
Merchandise editor Sophie Paxton Fashion editor Jenny Kennedy Fashion assistant Eniola Dare Chief sub editor Matt Hryciw Deputy chief sub editor Nick Howells
Contributing editors Lucy Carr-Ellison, Tony Chambers, James Corden, Hermione Eyre, Richard Godwin, Daisy Hoppen, Jemima Jones, Anthony Kendal, David Lane, Annabel Rivkin, Teo van den Broeke, Hikari Yokoyama Group client strategy director Deborah Rosenegk Head of magazines Christina Irvine
ES Magazine is published weekly and is available only with the London Evening Standard. ES Magazine is published by Evening Standard Ltd, Northcliffe House, 2 Derry Street, Kensington, London W8 5TT. ES is printed web offset by Wyndeham Bicester. Paper supplied by Perlen Paper AG. Colour transparencies or any other material submitted to ES Magazine are sent at owner’s risk. Neither Evening Standard Ltd nor their agents accept any liability for loss or damage. © Evening Standard Ltd 2016. Reproduction in whole or part of any contents of ES Magazine without prior permission of the editor is strictly prohibited
07.07.17 ES MAGAZINE 3
THE most WANTED
Game, set, match: Lacoste’s tennis ball coin purse is in play for Wimbledon Lacoste coin purse, £40 (020 7225 2851)
PHOTOGRAPH BY john gribben STYLED BY sophie paxton
07.07.17 es magazine 11
THE SOURCE OF COMFORT
Emily Lewis, 26, is a British Transport Police officer. She stayed with a stabbing victim at the London Bridge attack for more than two hours ‘I’d just started my shift when we got a call saying there had been stabbings in London Bridge. On the way I was thinking, “Terrorism or gangs? Have we got enough first-aid kits? Where do we go to help the most people?” On arriving I saw a man lying on the floor with a medic. His name was Brett Freeman and he had four stab wounds to his back. ‘While we waited for an ambulance, I just talked to him to keep him calm. We chatted about his day — he’d been at the races — and the fact that he had a baby on the way. We could hear gunshots and Brett was saying, “Go! Save yourself!” and I just held his hand and said, “No, I’ll stay with you.” I wasn’t going to leave him. ‘Eventually we got him in an ambulance and I stayed on the scene to help. The number of people who stopped to lend a hand was incredible. One group of squaddies had been on a night out but turned up at 11pm and didn’t leave until 9am. Bystanders were bringing us water and food — the kindness will always stay with me. Since that night, I’ve read about Brett’s story in the papers — I’m relieved to say he’s okay. You make a connection with someone after a night like that.’ 14 es magazine 07.07.17
we can be
heroes
Out of our darkest moments, incredible stories of courage, bravery and ingenuity have emerged. Kate Wills meets just some of the people who helped and make us proud to be Londoners
THE PACIFIER Muaz Mahmoud, 27, is a volunteer at Muslim Welfare House. He helped to calm the situation at the Finsbury Park Mosque until police came
‘I’d just got home after night prayers when my wife and I heard a very loud bang. Outside we could hear screaming in Arabic — “To God we belong, to God we return”, which we say when a calamity has happened — so I knew straight away there had been an attack. ‘I rushed out and the first thing I saw was a van and a man stuck underneath it. There were also four men lying on the ground motionless and bleeding. I grabbed towels and water from my house and started tending to the injured with the help of a neighbour, an Italian Catholic. ‘A few guys had pulled the alleged terrorist out of the van and restrained him on the ground. People were very angry,
PhotographS BY hannah maule-ffinch
hitting him and shouting, “Why did you do this?” and he was saying, “I want to kill Muslims”. My older brother Mohammed, the imam of the mosque, stepped in and shielded him while I kept people back. It felt bitter, having seen what I’d just seen, but I knew it was the right thing to do. Then we flagged down a police car and told the officers, “You need to arrest this man before someone kills him.” ‘The next day people of all backgrounds and religions and from all over the country came to bring support and flowers. It made me feel proud. This attempt to attack us and divide us has completely failed. I believe Londoners have never been closer.’
07.07.17 es magazine 15
illustrations BY rude
thisisrude.com
city of dreams
Sometimes it takes a crisis to remind you how special this big, beautiful old town is. Ben Machell reflects on the rich shared experience that makes up London life — and vows never again to take it for granted
London is not a city that encourages sentimentality. I don’t mean this in a bad way — we aren’t a city of nearly nine m i llion cold , unfeeling monsters — it’s just that it’s such a vibrant, teeming place in such a state of perpetual forward motion that you never really spend a massive amount of time quietly reflecting on, well… anything. Certainly not on your warm feelings towards the metropolis you call home. There just isn’t the time. There are buses to catch, groups of dawdling tourists to overtake, friends to see and a little gap that’s just opened up at the bar if you can only get there quickly enough. There are letting agents to harass and jobs to secretly apply for and family members visiting from out of town, who are absolutely determined to visit this restaurant they’ve read about even though they don’t seem to realise just how far away it is from where you live. There is stuff to do. Always stuff to do. To live in London is, by definition, to be wrapped up in it. Come on. Look around you. How could you not be? But then awful things start happening. Benign place names suddenly take on tragic double m e a n i n g s . We s t m i n s t e r. Borough. Grenfell Tower. Finsbury Park. Your stomach sinks every time the breaking news alert on your phone chimes at night. Do you wake the person next to you? Or do you let them sleep and hope that, by the morning, things won’t be as bad as the early reports say? But then you quickly learn that things are always worse than the early reports say. So you both stay awake, trying to make sense of events that, for the most part, are really not supposed to make sense. You think about the dead and feel any number of things: sorrow, helplessness, anger. You think about London, and about how it’s back to doing its historical job of sucking up the very worst of adversity. And
07.07.17 es magazine 23
my london
roy larner as told to lily worcester
Home is… A hostel in Brixton above a barbershop, but I was homeless at the time of the London Bridge attacks. I used to live on the Ledbury Estate in Peckham; my mum’s been there for 47 years.
Ever had a run in with a policeman? I’ve probably got gobby after a night out having got caught short! The emergency services were brilliant on the night of the attack. I’m trying to meet the two police officers who drove me to the hospital. I didn’t realise how much I was bleeding. I can’t thank them enough — they saved my life.
42 es magazine 07.07.17
Biggest extravagance? Following Millwall up and down the country watching football. I go every Saturday and it’s not cheap, but they’re giving me a lifetime season ticket now. A Swedish brewery has also made a beer called ‘F*** You, I’m Millwall’. Favourite pub? The Market Porter in Borough Market — they’re so friendly and have nice food. I have steak and chips, and some lager — but not too much, just a couple of pints.
The Millwall-loving ‘Lion of London Bridge’, who single-handedly took on three jihadis in the terror attack, loves lobster pasta at Ciao Bella and a lager (or two) at The Market Porter Earliest London memory? Going to Millwall Football club. I’d play football with friends I grew up with on the estates — I was good then but I’m too old these days. I’m just starting my coaching badges now — I’d love to coach the Millwall team. Who’s your hero? My daughter Freya, who’s 14, for putting up with me. She makes me keep going. If you could buy any building, which would it be? 10 Downing Street, to make sure Labour don’t get in there.
What would you do if you were Mayor for the day? Have a big party along the Thames. London’s the best place in the world for me. It’s a shame that all these things have happened, but it ain’t putting people off coming here. Best thing a cabbie has ever said to you? I’ve had cab drivers with passengers in the back stop me and say, ‘Can I have a selfie?’ It’s so unreal for me, but it’s nice.
What are you up to for work at the moment? I can’t work at the moment but I’ve been offered security jobs. After what happened I don’t think I need a CV for it! I’ve probably got more chance of winning the lottery than this happening to me again. It’s like a million to one that these things happen, but it happened and I’m still here. To support Roy Larner, donate to his Just Giving page (justgiving.com/crowdfunding/ jayne-jacob)
AJ Levy; Alamy
You’ve been hailed as a hero because of your actions at London Bridge. What do you remember about that night? To be honest I don’t remember much, but this is what I’ve been told happened. Three attackers rushed in and were shouting about Isis. One started stabbing me as the other two were walking toward the bar — I was defending myself so much that the other two came back and joined in, which, fortunately, kept them from attacking more people. Then I shouted, ‘F*** you, I’m Millwall!’ One attacker was in an Arsenal shirt and I’m a Millwall fan, so I guess that’s why.
Best meal you’ve had? I’ve been going to Ciao Bella on Lamb’s Conduit Street for years — the lobster pasta’s lovely.