Nicola Muirhead

Nov 19, 2024 | smithsonianmag.com | Andrew Lawler |Nicola Muirhead

A sudden roar broke the muggy stillness, making me jump. A young woman squatting in a shallow trench reassured me. “No worries,” she said, gesturing with a trowel into a nearby thicket. “Our tools here are chainsaws and leaf blowers.” Whisk brooms, dental picks and spoons are also part of the arsenal. A few dozen yards away, in a dirty T-shirt, faded camo shorts and black work boots, Michael Jarvis hacked away at thick brush with a gas-powered saw.

Sep 4, 2024 | hyphenonline.com | Nicola Muirhead

As the Grenfell Tower inquiry draws to a close and its final report is published, we look back at the aftermath of the disaster through the eyes of photographer Nicola Muirhead, who has lived and worked in the area and knows the local community well. On 14 June 2017, 72 people lost their lives in a devastating fire exacerbated by cladding fitted on Grenfell Tower as part of an earlier refurbishment plan.