London at home in the 1990s

Segal’s series was made for our Peopling of London exhibition in 1993. The exhibition focused on how people from around the world have shaped our city, and Segal’s photos helped show just how diverse London was.

The family in this photograph are followers of the Lubovitch branch of Judaism, which takes its name from a village in Belarus. They were living in Stamford Hill in Hackney, an area home to the largest population of Orthodox Jews in Europe.

Segal’s images are a window into people’s private spaces. The furniture, photos and decorations they choose. The things they do to relax, to pass the time. The people they share a home with, and the relationships between them.

Many of the homes Segal photographed contain multiple generations of the same family.

Others live alone.

Housing in London ranges from temporary shared spaces where people frequently come and go, to private homes where families have lived for generations. Many Londoners struggle to find affordable, secure housing. Where they live is sometimes not their choice. How does that change the way we feel about home?

Our sense of home is about more than life behind doors – community and a sense of shared culture matter, too. Shadwell in east London, where this family lived, is home to a large Bengali Bangladeshi population.

In some of Segal’s photos, the people are posed, rigid. In others, they seem more comfortable. How would you behave showing your home to a photographer?

What we fill our homes with is a matter of personal taste. It’s for our own benefit. But in a living room, or any other space where we might welcome guests, we’re also aware of how our homes might look to others.