Breathe

In 2012, Dryden Goodwin’s animation was projected on the roof of St. Thomas’ Hospital in London. The animation comprised of over 1000 drawings of his son, inhaling and exhaling. As this young boy looked across and out of the frame, he stared out across the River Thames and into the windows of the Houses of Parliament.

10 years later, and air pollution in London continues to be a matter of life and death. Goodwin reprises his work, creating a new set of illustrations with representatives of those fighting for change in the nation’s capital. Portraits depicted include members of Climate Action Lewisham, Choked Up, Mums for London and the Ella Roberta Family Foundation.

This new set of portraits - both stills and moving images - are installed nearby the South Circular Road in London for over 7 months. This area made international headlines in 2020, when an inquest into the death of nine-year old Ella Kissi Debrah, declared exposure to air pollution as the root cause. The work serves as a powerful reminder of the injustice faced by local communities. We do not all breathe the same air.