Seville to Hackney: a photographic journey.

In Seville, a guide and tourists looking up. The beginning of the film.
In Vienna, an afternoon sleep, my lover is in the bathroom.
In Tijuana, warning posters.
In Zacatecas, songs from a man with few teeth, but a voice that would carry across valleys.
Back at the hotel, washing up to dry.
In Chiang Mai, slow connections.
In Guadalajara, a shabby bar, just closed, or just about to open, promises a good time.
On the way to China from Laos, ladies offer drugs in little waxed paper sachets, hidden beneath hand-made bracelets.
At home, on my sofa in Hackney. The table I bought for £15 from Brick Lane.
At The Last Resort, on Ko Lanta, stuck to the fake wood ceiling, attracted to the light, a ghecko lets out its bird-like call.
Crossing borders.
Some are easier than others.
For some, some may be easier than others.
Into Laos, polysterene packaging is pushed in.
In Luang Prabang, threadbare glamour is mine for $3 a night. The sounds of the night enter through the slatted walls.
Back in Hackney, I pack up my room.

Elly Clarke, 2007

These images and text were originally produced for publication in 'Mobilizing Hospitality: The Ethics of Social Relations in a Mobile World' target="blank", edited by Jennie Germann Molz and Sarah Gibson, 2007, following a conference at the Centre for Mobility Research at Lancaster University of the same name.