Books News Photography Product Publication Publishing

In Perpetuum | Welcome to Holbeck – Oliver London

posted by Robyn Pitts February 24, 2022

(TRIGGER WARNING: CONTAINS NUDITY AND SENSITIVE SUBJECTS) The latest project to launch on our crowdfunding publishing platform, In Perpetuum, is Oliver London’s Welcome to Holbeck. From 2017 – 2019 the photographer and artist took to the streets of Holbeck, known as the UK’s first legal Red Light District, to document and capture a critical and social condition that has been causing controversy in the media and with local residents.

Holbeck picked up attention back in 2016 when the BBC created a 13 part series on the area. Oliver, a local, was grasped by the way the series was presented and decided to delve in deeper to uncover the truth about the scheme.

What was supposed to be a controlled and safe space for women to work was actually the complete opposite. Only months after the ‘Managed Approach’ was implemented a woman lost her life at the hands of a brutal attack. Unfortunately, this is not the first of this kind of crime in Holbeck.

Oliver visited the popular streets to capture and document the conditions these women endure in a raw and unfiltered light, curating the images into a 135-page, litho-printed photo-documentary book. The findings are disturbing, uncomfortable, and eye-opening.

Using media and social platforms to raise awareness, Oliver aims to shine a light on something that can, and needs to be, changed. Proceeds from every sale will go towards SWARM and Basis Yorkshire to help continue to provide support and services to indoor and street sex workers.

This level of documentation provides the sex workers of Holbeck a platform to display the conditions and the truth they live in. It is important to acknowledge that sex work is real work and that we must work together in order to protect, educate, and provide safe spaces for this industry.

Want to support the campaign? Alongside a copy of the book we’re also offering pre-order rewards including a pack of 3 stickers, a limited edition pin, or your name printed in the book. Check out more here.

The money raised from the campaign will fund the writing and editing, alongside the design, production, printing, distribution of the book, and donations.

First Edition to be published in March 2022.

Learn more about the campaign and support here.