In the run-up to the mighty Notting Hill Carnival this weekend, and to celebrate our partnership with the NTS Carnival Soundsystem, we have invited four of our favourite visual artists of the moment to share their visions of the world's second biggest street festival. We loose to Rio, which we're chill with, but we're definitely winning on the talent side: Second instalment in this series is Dalston-born photographer Ben Day, who shares his most memorable shots from Carnival 2012.
Carnival is my favourite weekend in London. Every year I go with a camera, there are so many things to see when you have that many people getting on it together. Most of what I know of West London comes from walking around the streets during these few days of the year. People feel strongly about Carnival and they put a lot of effort into making it fun. I'm more into the sound systems than the route itself, and I usually go to the same ones on my annual pilgrimage. Seeing the same people year after year feeds my nostalgia and it feels natural taking photos where everyone is dancing and performing. I like the rituals that people have and the scenes that seem to repeat themselves each year. My only complaint is that it should go on longer, but people would probably go insane if they did that.
