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Concrete Borders. IdeasTap Photographic Award (26 and over UK) submission.

London is booming. There's an estimate of over 18 million of tourists to visit UK capital in 2014, unparalleled property market, City, there are jobs. London is growing - it's economy is set to expand by 15% over the next five years to 2019, according to a forecast from the Centre for Economics and Business Research. It's forecast that by 2031 Greater London population should reach over 10 million, from current 8.2 million. London is an opportunity, a dream, a modern day Klondike: it deals in futures - literally and directly, on all levels, starting with Russian oligarchs and ending with African refugees.

Part of this trade deals in commodities such as esteem, social security and integration, in exchange for cold, hard cash whilst inducing curiosity and surprise in enormous flow of London's visitors. It's "brokers" and "traders" are based - although not very far away from Square Mile geographically - in social no-man's land: they spend their days dressed up as Charlie Chaplin, Yoda or Shrek, they approach tourists, preying on their naiveté and charging agency-level fees for photo ops in Southbank and around London Eye; some of them are outstanding con artists, offering a gamble or two on Westminster Bridge. They levitate in Trafalgar Square and Covent Garden.

Perhaps, "levitation" describes their situation best. These schemes are mostly run by organized Eastern European gangs. Behind each mask there's a story of exploit, hurt dignity, violence and brutal living. And, as each mask evokes contemptuous glare from passers-by, there's also a simple human story of care, desire and aspiration.

Entertainable

A group of tourists rest on the bench in London's Trafalgar Square. More than 18 million people will visit London this year, making it the top tourist destination in the world, according to a MasterCard travel report released Wednesday 09/07/2014.

Entertainable

Banter, I'd Rather.

Razvan, one of the street entertainers in Trafalgar Square, sits next to the National Gallery during morning rush hour as Londoners walk past on their way to work. Trafalgar Square, Covent Garden market and Westminster bridge are key areas of operation for street entertainers, gamblers and con artists, many of them from Eastern Europe, according to Metropolitan Police.

Banter, I'd Rather.

No Man's Land

Street entertainer sits on the pavement, next to his equipment, as child is playing nearby,Trafalgar Square, London. Activities such as gambling, aggressive begging and certain kinds of street entertainment are classified as highly illegal by Metropolitan Police, and are run mostly by organized Eastern European gangs.

No Man's Land

Ora et Labora

Ioan, from Romania, puts matching painted hard hat on as he is getting ready for his workday in Covent Garden market, London. Despite booming Romanian economy, there is still huge difference in average earnings between the two countries, which is still further compounded by illegal nature of these street operations.

Ora et Labora

Forceful

Street performer picks up his Yoda mask from the ground in London's Trafalgar Square as he prepares for the workday. Most of the "levitating" characters are extremely well-known pop culture images: Yoda, Shrek, Tinman, among other less known, but visualy striking characters.

Forceful

Gravity

Woman, clad in a hat and a bright dress, takes a picture of "Yoda", floating above Trafalgar Square pavement, on her smartphone as passer-by observes the scene. These street performers, along with con artists on Westminster bridge, are widely disliked among Londoners, quite often being labeled as "gypsy gangs" or "Romanian criminals" by general public and tabloids alike.

Gravity

Glancing

Masked man at his post in Covent Garden, as passer-by looks at him. Social segregation is embodied by costume, however in most often it starts well before the show: non-existant or severely lacking language skills, life in extremely overcrowded flats, and in extreme cases - missing passports.

Glancing

Credulity

Woman watches "Yoda" floating above the pavement in Trafalgar Square, London. Curiosity and surprise is main commodity of "levitating" street performers, and as such, their target audience consist mainly of tourists and children.

Credulity

Incredulity

Girl investigates the "mystery" of street performer, as her friends stand next to her in London's Trafalgar Square. Curiosity and surprise is main commodity of "levitating" street performers, and as such, their target audience consist mainly of tourists and children.

Incredulity

Connections

Street performer talks on the phone, while on the break in Trafalgar Square, London. Links between London-based Eastern European migrants and the "old" countries are extremely strong - in some cases, money transfers from UK to single country exceeds £400 million a year, not taking into account unofficial transfers. Usualy,"on the other end" there's a family.

Connections