Dominoes

Dominoes is a unique and vibrant mosaic of the lives that float in and around a particular corner of Hackney in London's East End. The book is populated by intimate pictures of people who have experienced addiction and pain as well as the deep joys of the community of which they are a part. Gillett Square was derelict and underdeveloped for years until, in the 1990s it became an experiment in urban regeneration. Just like the Dominoes that are now played in the square, those lives are often precarious. For ten years Roland Ramanan was privileged to be allowed into the lives and homes of many local residents, to photograph their struggles and their hardships; their families and their lovers. Some of these people are now his friends, others are no longer with us. Dominoes touches on universal themes of love, death, hope and the evolution of urban communities. The work is an honest look into lives that we often ignore; there is sadness but there is also always a sense of hope.