Death of the Camden Market Counterculture

Settled on two sides of a river, connected by a black bridge, lies a market that has something for everyone.  An overall rock n' roll vibe exudes from the market through the dark colors, graffiti art, and even by some of the crowd it draws.  However, it is clear to see that the once capital of punk, is losing its identity through gentrification.  The luxury apartments lined along the river juxtaposed with the run down nature of the market's original buildings was very confusing.  One can easily tell that at one point in time, this place held great significance, but now is now a tourist destination more than anything.  Camden's counterculture is what ultimately lead to its demise.   

"For decades Camden Lock has been a place synonymous with subculture - it's the closest things cyber goths have to a Westfield - but it's slowly being painted beige" (Ewens).

The Camden Market at some point meant revolution, both musically and politically.  It was a place where outsiders went to connect with other outsiders.  Infamous artists like The Clash, The Sex Pistols, and Amy Winehouse were all frequent visitors of Camden Lock Market and often created music and performed there.  It was the epitome of counterculture in the '70s and '80s.  So, it is no surprise that this area draws so many tourists today. 

Today, the Camden Market is still culturally diverse with food booths from all over the world as well as people, but it holds a different identity than it once did.  It used to stand as a place for the 'others' in society.  There was a sense of community and belonging.  A mutual love for music and a mindset of revolution.  Now, it stands as a historically rich place with tourists coming from all over the world to experience that feeling of belonging and experience being part of the counterculture.  However, with the influx of tourists wanting to experience something less mainstream, they have made it mainstream.

Camden Lock Dingwalls in 1970s

The culturally rich punk capital drew businessmen who saw an opportunity to capitalize on this area.  Land and smaller businesses started to get bought out, becoming the more commercialized marketplace it is now.  Most independent business owners that have been there for decades are struggling to stay in the area, due to the skyrocketing prices.  The end goal for these big-time businessmen is to make Camden Market cleaner and more family-friendly.  They want to bring in more tourists and families, using the history of the area to draw parents and the uniqueness of it to draw the younger crowd.   

Camden Lock today- old Dingwalls

Much like Britain, this marketplace is having an identity crisis.  It is no longer a place of counterculture, rather a cool place to hang out for most of society.  Outsiders are not drawn to it anymore.  This space once liberated the others of society from the pressures they faced in the real world, but today it only attracts what they were once trying to escape.  There is still a big punk crowd drawn to this area, probably hoping to one day revive what it once was, but there is even a larger crowd of tourists.  The gentrification of the Camden Market caused the area to lose it's identity of self and overall meaning.   

"Camden became more of a tourist destination than ever: people wanted Amy tours and to steal street signs from near her home, to take photos on the stairs from The Clash's debut album cover.  Camden is still cool to outsiders.  Cooler still to foreign investors" (Ewens). 

Don't get me wrong, Camden Market was still very rough around the edges and carried a punk vibe, but there was not a sense of community rooted in being an outcast.  Camden Lock Market is redefining what it means to Londoners, but one can say for sure, it no longer belongs to the outsiders or holds the same potential for a revolution.