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The other person in Ruserius' photo is Amy, photographed in Toronto by @humanizing_the_homeless, she has been homeless for many years. The pandemic has made her life even more difficult as places are shut and money is hard to come by. When photographed, she had a broken face mask on that she had to hold in place with her hand.
(From artists Instagram page)
Nah, that was just the clue. Welcome to Best Hampstead though.
For 20 years or so a guy named Spider (what were his parents thinking?) or John Henderson had been semi-living on the bridge, and the path leading to the Thameslink entrance, and selling second-hand books accompanied by his 3 legged dog, Sugar.
John made a lot of friends over the years. He wasn't actually homeless, but he had drink and drug issues, and seemed to prefer being on the street to going home. Almost exactly a year ago he died of a drug overdose, and a small memorial was placed on the bridge. A year later this mural has been painted as a memorial to him (and apparently to highlight homelessness, which many people think a bit crass as John wasn't homeless). It doesn't actually look much like Spider or Sugar (the bit in my photo) and nobody has any idea who the other person as seen in @Ruserius photo is meant to be.
I thought I would bike tag it before the fine young citizens of Kilburn cover it with their tags, or the upstanding burghers of West Pramstead have it painted over and replaced with advertising for estate agents. The side I tagged has to be altered or covered up as the council have decided it is unauthorised advertising. http://camdennewjournal.com/article/west-hampsteads-new-art-mural-to-be-edited-after-planning-dispute