"I live in Notting Hill - influencers and tourists have swamped my area - others would hate it but I love it"
  • 2 months ago
A man who lives on one of Notting Hill's most colourful streets says he loves the "free entertainment" provided by tourists and influencers taking over the area.

Bart, who didn't wish to reveal his last name, says that every week hundreds of people come down his street to snap the perfect content for Instagram or TikTok.

Bart's videos show the influencers flitting through the neighbourhood - lying on people's doorsteps, setting off smoke bombs and dancing in the road.

The street, which was kept private, is often listed in the top 10 most Instagrammable streets in Notting Hill and is lined by colourful houses.

Bart has lived in the area for three years now but it wasn't until earlier this month that he began documenting the phenomenon on TikTok.

He said: "On social media, we're often presented with highly curated snapshots of people's lives portraying seemingly picture-perfect moments, but what lies beyond the camera lens remains unseen.

"I figured this would be an angle of TikTok that people would enjoy, which has proven true so far."

Bart understands that others may find the phenomenon annoying but he "loves the free entertainment."

He said: "The lengths people go to for the perfect picture is quite amusing.

"The other day I saw someone skip down the street seven times with five cameras following him.

"One of the videos shows a woman lying on her back next to a pile of rubbish that was waiting to be picked up by the bin men.

"It would annoy other people, I'm sure, but I actually view it purely as something to have a good laugh about."

Inadvertently, Bart's TikTok account quickly became viral with his videos already accumulating millions of views.

He said: "Living in a place like Notting Hill, you get a front row seat behind the comical process of capturing the 'perfect' shot."

"[They come to do] TikTok dances and modelling especially, and others come simply to take a picture of a colourful street.”
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