Film Still Photography
  • Home
  • About
  • Blog
  • Vintage Cameras
    • Argus 75
    • Brownie Flash II
    • Contax G2
    • Ensign Selfix 820
    • FED-1 (PE0320)
    • Graflex Crown Graphic
    • Ihagee Exa
    • Leica M6
    • Nikon S2
    • Nikon F
    • Nikon F2
    • Nikon F3
    • Nikon FA
    • Olympus OM-1
    • Olympus OM-2 SPOT
    • Olympus Stylus
    • Pentacon Six
    • Pentax Spotmatic IIa
    • Rollei 35
    • Voigtlander 15mm ver III
    • Yashica C
    • Zeiss Ikon Nettar 515/2
  • Learning Composition
    • The Monochrome Diaries
    • Single & Multi Elements
    • Symmetry
    • Keep the Right Strong
    • Framing
    • Color in Composition
    • Deep Dive Bubble Man
    • Photo Assignments
  • Darkroom Lessons
    • Building a Sink
    • Air Ventilation
    • Analyser Pro
    • Development Hints
    • Primer for Film Photography
    • Bulk Loading Film
    • Pushing & Pulling Film
    • Color Development
    • Digital Contact Sheets
    • Stick to One Film Stock?
    • HP5+ Shot at 200 ISO
    • HP5 Shot at 1600 ISO
    • HP5 Shot at 3200 ISO
    • Medium Format
    • Washing Film
    • Split Grade Printing
    • Using Distilled Water in Film Development
    • Darkroom Paper
    • Foma100 EI 400
  • Photography Books & Films
    • Colin O'Brien
    • Lartigue Life in Color
    • Magnum Contact Sheets
    • Top Photography Movies
    • William Eggleston's Guide
    • Helen Levitt
    • Sally Mann Immediate Family
    • Saul Leiter Early B&W
    • Leica 100 yrs
    • Calendar Days of Asaya Hamaya
    • The Decisive Moment
    • Regarding Women
    • Robert Capa in Love and War
  • Single Image Deep Dive
    • Sergio Larrain "A Man After Dark"
    • Colin O'Brien 'Comings & Goings"
    • Erwitt Mother & Child
    • Man Running
    • Samuel Becket
    • Koudelka Wristwatch
    • Dovima with Elephants
Salzburg, Austria

"No place is boring if you've had a good night's sleep and a pocket full of film." - Robert Adams
​
"Tea first, then photography..." - Philip Lee Harvey

From an Article written by Philip Lee Harvey

London Sophistication and Working Class Utility

10/14/2017

0 Comments

 
Picture
The benefit of traveling around the world is the chance to live in different countries, not just visit. When you live there you get a better feel of the people, culture and city vibe. A couple of weeks ago I wrote a post about the "Paris Mystique" which looked at the city of Paris from a photographic point of view.

But Paris is not the only city with a special reputation and feel. London, a city we lived in for a year and a half, has its very own character that translates very well in photographs. While Paris might be all about the art and joy of life, London is about sophistication. Everything in the city has a reason, a purpose and is named accordingly. While the French may enjoy their artistic disorder, the English have built their main city to reflect their love of order. London, the city of banking, industry and growth.

If there is a single author who captured the streets of London it would have to be Charles Dickens. Reading "Great Expectations" is like taking a walk down the city streets. His descriptions of the Thames ring so authentic that once seen, can not be confused for another.  London was such a vital part of Dickens's books that it grew beyond a backdrop and became a critical character.

Looking to photography we find many of the very basic beginnings of this art on the London streets. People have been photographing London since photography first was being tested.  William Henry Fox Talbot was one of the first and many of his images still exist today.  
Picture
On the left we have his image of Nelson's column being built in 1844. You can see the structure, the organization of the posters along the fence. One look at the stoic buildings in the background and you know you are in London.

This was the London of Dickens and it is the same London we see today. Jump forward 90 years and we find the same city.
Here we have a shot by Wolf Suschitzky shot in 1934. Here we see the wet London and the working class, pushing his burden through the streets. This is a central part of the theme of London, for few other cities have written so much of their working class, and the awful conditions that they lived in. In spite of the massive difference in economic classes, everyone keeps the system working. Everyone respects sophistication and order.
Picture
Picture
There are parts of London that have become central themes to its story. Covent Garden is a wonderful example. This market was set up around 1654 and has been evolving ever since. To the left the photograph was shot in 1925 but if we go back today we would see the same building however with very different shops. In 1925 it was a fruit and vegetable market while today it is a high end store geared for tourists.
Here is an image taken this year in Covent Garden. The architecture is the same, the items for sale have changed but it continues to be a gathering place for Londoners and tourists alike. 

While many would love to continue to see the vegetable market the prices they would have to charge to justify the location would make in inaccessible to most.
Picture
Picture
Here is a shot taken around 1900, of a street in front of Bank.  I have been down this street and while the dress has changed, you still see the busy city life. You will still see the well dressed bankers walking amongst the working class. That vibe of London has not changed. The sophistication is still there intermingled with working class efficiency. 
London continues to project images of something solid, firm, and ever lasting. The look of square utilitarian buildings, elegant phone booths and double decker buses continue to define a city.

The longevity of the famous buildings such as Elizabeth Tower, Covent Garden and Westminster Abby all continue to define the sophisticated style that London is known for.

The Thames river and the bridges that cross her continues to help keep London the same, in spite of so many changes. 

If Dickens were to be brought back to London today, he would see a changed economy and a modernized transport system, but he would see much of what he loved of London.
Picture
Picture
The same working class people, stopping for a break, looking over the sights and sounds that have made London famous. The chime of Big Ben, the horns of the boats traveling the Thames River, the quiet people on public transport. Since the advent of photography, London has been photographed and looking back over those images we can easily recognize the same city we have before us today. One of sophistication and working class utility.
0 Comments



Leave a Reply.

    Author

    Patrick...confirmed film & digital photography addict.

    Archives

    March 2023
    January 2023
    March 2022
    January 2022
    December 2021
    November 2021
    October 2020
    August 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016

    Categories

    All

    RSS Feed

Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.
Photos used under Creative Commons from left-hand, Ant Jackson, Skley, mikecogh, Helen.Yang, TheeErin, Dean Hochman, CJS*64, DaveR1988, FootMassagez, Loco Steve, dmytrok, Christiaan Colen
  • Home
  • About
  • Blog
  • Vintage Cameras
    • Argus 75
    • Brownie Flash II
    • Contax G2
    • Ensign Selfix 820
    • FED-1 (PE0320)
    • Graflex Crown Graphic
    • Ihagee Exa
    • Leica M6
    • Nikon S2
    • Nikon F
    • Nikon F2
    • Nikon F3
    • Nikon FA
    • Olympus OM-1
    • Olympus OM-2 SPOT
    • Olympus Stylus
    • Pentacon Six
    • Pentax Spotmatic IIa
    • Rollei 35
    • Voigtlander 15mm ver III
    • Yashica C
    • Zeiss Ikon Nettar 515/2
  • Learning Composition
    • The Monochrome Diaries
    • Single & Multi Elements
    • Symmetry
    • Keep the Right Strong
    • Framing
    • Color in Composition
    • Deep Dive Bubble Man
    • Photo Assignments
  • Darkroom Lessons
    • Building a Sink
    • Air Ventilation
    • Analyser Pro
    • Development Hints
    • Primer for Film Photography
    • Bulk Loading Film
    • Pushing & Pulling Film
    • Color Development
    • Digital Contact Sheets
    • Stick to One Film Stock?
    • HP5+ Shot at 200 ISO
    • HP5 Shot at 1600 ISO
    • HP5 Shot at 3200 ISO
    • Medium Format
    • Washing Film
    • Split Grade Printing
    • Using Distilled Water in Film Development
    • Darkroom Paper
    • Foma100 EI 400
  • Photography Books & Films
    • Colin O'Brien
    • Lartigue Life in Color
    • Magnum Contact Sheets
    • Top Photography Movies
    • William Eggleston's Guide
    • Helen Levitt
    • Sally Mann Immediate Family
    • Saul Leiter Early B&W
    • Leica 100 yrs
    • Calendar Days of Asaya Hamaya
    • The Decisive Moment
    • Regarding Women
    • Robert Capa in Love and War
  • Single Image Deep Dive
    • Sergio Larrain "A Man After Dark"
    • Colin O'Brien 'Comings & Goings"
    • Erwitt Mother & Child
    • Man Running
    • Samuel Becket
    • Koudelka Wristwatch
    • Dovima with Elephants