Murder #6, Michal Mazur, Leytonstone
Murder #6, Michal Mazur, Leytonstone
The body of 27 year-old Michal Mazur, a Polish student, was found in the airing cupboard of a basement flat in Leytonstone, east London. Mr. Mazur had suffered fractures to his skull, face and neck. It is believed he was battered to death with a metal weights bar in the early hours of January 11, 2011.
No flowers , no police tape, nothing greeted me as I walked up and down Wallwood Road looking for the murder site. I finally asked someone and I was pointed in the right direction. It had been a couple of weeks since the murder. The suspect had turned himself in a week after the murder and by the time the police announced the murder investigation, they had finished with their forensic work. I struggled to make an image of the basement flat. I was very uncomfortable walking into the front garden of the house even if it was communal space shared by the flats. But I also felt uncomfortable photographing the whole house for some reason. So I gingerly made my way to the front door of the basement flat, very much feeling like a trespasser. It was sunken entrance with a small patio on the side. I quickly set my tripod up and when I properly started looking it seemed so desolate. The flat had it front door replaced by one of those metal doors that you see when someone is trying to prevent squatters from entering. Though it had only been a few weeks, the front of the flat had the look of a long term abandonment . Suddenly the sun came out and a reflection of sunlight hit the yellow walls. I made a few more photographs and then left.
These were early days in the project and I was feeling very unsure of what I was doing. I have always photographed people and making photographs without a direct human presence in them was a new territory for me. The silence of the photographs I had made so far left me uneasy. I felt as though I was photographing ghosts.
