You don’t often see people jumping for joy at their lot when walking for a pint of milk in my neighbourhood. Not a lot of jaunty heel-kicking in evidence. You don’t see many people weeping in despair either. The pervading feeling seems to be: “It’s not great, but it could be worse”.

Not so for everyone. Physical Graffiti, a new collection of images from Josh Cole, shown recently at Kingsland Road’s Hoxton Gallery, captures the ecstatic energy of dance juxtaposed with backdrops from some of the world’s most deprived places. Cole has set out to show how happiness can shine through even when the surroundings, while photogenic, aren’t very picturesque.

Inspired by the street dancers of the hip-hop generation, Cole has gathered together a dynamic set of photos showing dancers, some gang members, from slums in a diverse and surprising range of places. Rwanda and Ethiopia may not be big on the tourist map, but traditionally affluent places such as Malaysia and the United Arab Emirates also feature. The images come with a definite Don’t Try This At Home warning…