18-year-old Alfie Lee, who wants to begin training professionally as a boxer, poses for a photograph in Dagenham, east London, Britain, March 12, 2019.
A barber and a customer are seen through the window of a barber shop in Dagenham, east London, Britain, March 18, 2019. Picture taken March 18, 2019.
People walk past shops along a high street in Dagenham, east London, Britain, March 19, 2019.
A woman walks past a row of shops in Dagenham, east London, Britain, March 19, 2019. Picture taken March 19, 2019. To match Special Report BRITAIN-EU/DAGENHAM REUTERS/Hannah McKay - RC113FFDCA50
The Cross Keys pub (L) and Dagenham Parish Church (C) are seen in Dagenham, east London, Britain, March 18, 2019.
Schoolgirls socialise outside a takeaway shop on a high street in Dagenham, east London, Britain, March 18, 2019. Picture taken March 18, 2019.
Stella Osunbor, who runs an African grocery in Dagenham and is a Nigerian immigrant, poses for a photograph in Dagenham, east London, Britain, March 12, 2019.
Simona Staputiene, a school teacher and Lithuanian immigrant, poses for a photograph in Dagenham, east London, Britain, March 11, 2019.
People walk past a house decorated with England flags on a residential street in Dagenham, east London, Britain, March 18, 2019.
A woman walks along a high street outside Dagenham Heathway underground station in Dagenham, east London, Britain, March 19, 2019.
Pastor Andy Eze of the Peculiar People Ministries poses for a photograph in Dagenham, east London, Britain, March 11, 2019.
Murat Kilinc, cafe owner and 44-year-old immigrant from Turkey, poses for a photograph in Dagenham, east London, Britain, March 12, 2019.
A woman smokes a cigarette in front of small British flags at Dagenham Sunday Market in Dagenham, east London, Britain, March 31 2019.
A woman speaks on a mobile phone as she walks along a high street outside Dagenham Heathway underground station in Dagenham, east London, Britain, March 18, 2019.
Travellers queue for a bus on a high street in Dagenham, east London, Britain, March 18, 2019.
A woman walks along a high street near a bus stop in Dagenham, east London, Britain, March 18, 2019.
A mean leaves a halal butcher shop in Dagenham, east London, Britain, March 18, 2019. Picture taken March 18, 2019.
A woman sits at a bus stop in Dagenham, east London, Britain, March 18, 2019. Picture taken March 18, 2019. REUTERS/Hannah McKay
A woman walks along a residential street in Dagenham, east London, Britain, March 18, 2019. Picture taken March 18, 2019.
Steve Walpole poses with his Lego creations at his home in Dagenham, east London, Britain, March 31 2019. Picture taken March 31, 2019.
A worker serves a customer at a fruit and vegetable shop on a high street in Dagenham, east London, Britain, March 18, 2019. Picture taken March 18, 2019.
Commuters leave Dagenham Heathway underground station in Dagenham, east London, Britain, March 18, 2019. Picture taken March 18, 2019.
Ken Brown, who runs the Mill House Social Club in Dagenham, poses for a photograph in Dagenham, east London, Britain, March 12, 2019.
Workers demolish old buildings in the Ford Dagenham Plant in Dagenham, east London, Britain, March 18, 2019.
A woman looks out the window of a bus operated by Arriva as it travels along a high street in Dagenham, east London, Britain, March 18, 2019.
75-year-old funeral director Heather Lighten poses for a photograph in Dagenham, east London, Britain, March 11, 2019.
People walk past shops along a high street in Dagenham, east London, Britain, March 19, 2019.
People cross the road near a library on a high street in Dagenham, east London, Britain, March 19, 2019.
A woman walks along a residential street in Dagenham, east London, Britain, March 18, 2019.
A woman leaves a charity shop in Dagenham, east London, Britain, March 18, 2019. Picture taken March 18, 2019.
Schoolboys wait to cross the road near shops on a high street in Dagenham, east London, Britain, March 18, 2019.
Commuters queue for a bus on a high street in Dagenham, east London, Britain, March 18, 2019. Picture taken March 18, 2019.
A woman with dogs walks through Dagenham Sunday Market in Dagenham, east London, Britain, March 31 2019. Picture taken March 31 2019.
Women walk near a Polish shop in Dagenham, east London, Britain, March 19, 2019. Picture taken March 19, 2019.
Postcards from the edge of London in the age of Brexit
Dagenham, in east London, was built as a working-class paradise. A giant Ford factory brought jobs and security. But then it stopped making cars. And a single decade of mass immigration upended this tightly knit community. In 2016, the borough of Barking and Dagenham voted overwhelmingly to leave the European Union. Here, its people explain what came before Brexit, why they think Dagenham (and the country) is so divided today – and where Britain’s future resilience might lie.
