Sleepless nights

Marc Davenant’s book Outsiders gives a voice and face to the homeless in Britain. Peter Dench finds out more

‘As we approached the property I had a really bad feeling, it looked bad from the outside, everything had steel shutters on except this one flat, it was an isolated little flat. We stepped in and the smell of the property was just overwhelming of damp and mould. I’ve never experienced anything quite like it and everywhere inside had mould on it. The carpet had mould on it, the towels and all the surfaces. Sireena was incredibly house-proud and cleaned the place every day and the mould grew back overnight. When we were walking through the property, you could hear water squelching beneath the floor. I didn’t know where to put my camera bag, mould grew on it after the shoot. She wasn’t in a good place mentally but I wanted her story told,’ explains photographer Marc Davenant.

Sireena’s story, alongside many others, is told in his book, Outsiders. They are often harrowing but necessary, giving a voice and a face to those living on the street or who lack a stable, habitable home. Outsiders is the culmination of a six-year project highlighting the serious and growing problem in supposedly affluent Britain. It started with a conversation and photos of Stephen in Soho and developed into a collaboration with homeless charity Shelter. It took Marc thousands of hours, emails and photos to prove he wasn’t some kind of predatory photographer on a poverty safari.