If you know London, you’ve probably heard of Croydon – and you probably know about its reputation. Ask almost anyone and they’ll tell you that Croydon is an ugly, concrete mess with deluded aspirations of wanting to be a city, and don’t get started on the crime. Some of this is certainly true; however, it’s no more deserved than most other London boroughs. Yet Croydon is the most reviled of them all.

I grew up here and I still live here. I’ve seen and experienced this place in all its many personalities – good, bad, and ugly. The thing about Croydon is that it’s also full of incredible beauty: in its abundant green and natural spaces which many don’t know about, its 10,000 cultures inside 10 miles, the easily-missable everyday moments, and sometimes, genuinely, the not-so-nice moments.

Over the years, I’ve made countless photographs of my hometown. Here they show an unnoticed side to this place; the delicate, poetic, and unashamedly romantic side. I hope you can see what I see.