100 Faces of Croydon is a community-led photography project from London Mozart Players (LMP) which showcases the people and places who make our borough unique. The project aims to create a snapshot of Croydon in its year as London Borough of Culture. 30 local photography enthusiasts have taken portraits of 100 people in locations which represent what Croydon means to them. Two photos of each ‘face’ have been taken: one black and white headshot and one colour portrait of them in their chosen environment.
Who are London Mozart Players (LMP)?
LMP are Croydon’s Resident Orchestra. We’ve been making music at Fairfield Halls since 1989 and our work is fuelled by the talented and varied people who live and work across the borough. 2024 marks LMP’s 75th anniversary and 100 Faces is a very special way to celebrate our home and the people who make it distinctive.
The portraits were unveiled on 10 February 2024 at LMP’s 75th birthday concert at Fairfield Halls when all 100 ‘Faces’ came together to perform György Ligeti’s Poème Symphonique for 100 Metronomes while their portraits were projected onto a large screen on stage, fostering a strong sense of local pride and community. The portraits were displayed around Fairfield Halls on the night through foyer projections, vinyls on the outside walls and rotating digital screens. For a further 12 weeks, the portraits were displayed around Croydon on trams, in stations and on billboards around the borough, further enhancing local pride in the project. This website hosts all the portraits as a celebration of the project. For many participants, this was their first classical concert and it gave them a unique and empowering opportunity to star in the performance itself. The concert was hosted by Petroc Trelawny and recorded for BBC Radio 3, vastly increasing the project’s profile and reach.
16 project participants have since become LMP Champions, a community-based advisory group. Their role is to help shape LMP’s performance and outreach programme to ensure that LMP’s activity as Croydon’s Resident Orchestra is informed by the local people for whom it’s produced; a fitting legacy of this innovative community engagement project.
Our Partners
Our partners 100 Faces of Croydon is a project created in association with Kaupo Kikkas, Jonathan Bloxham and Lenses of Croydon. The project is supported by This is Croydon: The Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan’s, London Borough of Culture.
