What always struck me about Moyra Peralta’s photographs was the authentic and joyful connections I could feel between her and the people she captured through her lens. Her images communicate a deeply personal relationship to the community she documented.
While a student in the 1970s, Moyra began working in hostels and soup kitchens where she immersed herself in documenting aspects of homelessness.
Invited into the lives of those she encountered, Moyra bore witness to the existing social conditions they faced. As a photographer she sought to offer an unbiased look into their world, seeing individuals and their experiences as an important part of our social history.
In conversation with Moyra’s grandson, he shared with me that she lived in the homeless shelter for some time and that was how she was able to build such a strong trusting friendship with her subjects. “She became a part of their lives, and they became a part of hers.”
Her images sought to bring relief to the people she met on the streets of London while immortalising their experiences and celebrating their lives through her warm and connected shooting style.
She tried to portray them from their own perspectives, to allow them a voice through her images, a platform for their own expression.
While other documentary photographers can give a feeling of “looking in” and observing without engagement, I’ve always had a sense of Moyra’s work coming from the inside out. A feeling of the very spirit of life on the street, the comradeship, the authenticity, the hardships endured, and the joys felt in the face…
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