35 Amazing Vintage Photographs That Capture Street Scenes of London in 1876 and 1877
Street Life in London, published in 1876-1877, consists of a series of articles by the radical journalist Adolphe Smith and the photographer John Thomson.
The pieces are short but full of detail, based on interviews with a range of men and women who eked out a precarious and marginal existence working on the streets of London, including flower-sellers, chimney-sweeps, shoe-blacks, chair-caners, musicians, dustmen and locksmiths.
The subject matter of Street Life was not new – the second half of the 19th century saw an increasing interest in urban poverty and social conditions – but the unique selling point of Street Life was a series of photographs ‘taken from life’ by Thomson. The authors felt at the time that the images lent authenticity to the text, and their book is now regarded as a key work in the history of documentary photography.
Street Scenes of London in 1876 and 1877
Street Scenes of London in 1876 and 1877
Street Scenes of London in 1876 and 1877
Street Scenes of London in 1876 and 1877
Street Scenes of London in 1876 and 1877
Street Scenes of London in 1876 and 1877
Street Scenes of London in 1876 and 1877
Street Scenes of London in 1876 and 1877
Street Scenes of London in 1876 and 1877
Street Scenes of London in 1876 and 1877
Street Scenes of London in 1876 and 1877
Street Scenes of London in 1876 and 1877
Street Scenes of London in 1876 and 1877
Street Scenes of London in 1876 and 1877
Street Scenes of London in 1876 and 1877
Street Scenes of London in 1876 and 1877
Street Scenes of London in 1876 and 1877
Street Scenes of London in 1876 and 1877
Street Scenes of London in 1876 and 1877
Street Scenes of London in 1876 and 1877
Street Scenes of London in 1876 and 1877
Street Scenes of London in 1876 and 1877
Street Scenes of London in 1876 and 1877
Street Scenes of London in 1876 and 1877
Street Scenes of London in 1876 and 1877
Street Scenes of London in 1876 and 1877
Street Scenes of London in 1876 and 1877
Street Scenes of London in 1876 and 1877
Street Scenes of London in 1876 and 1877
Street Scenes of London in 1876 and 1877
Street Scenes of London in 1876 and 1877
Street Scenes of London in 1876 and 1877
Street Scenes of London in 1876 and 1877
Street Scenes of London in 1876 and 1877
Street Scenes of London in 1876 and 1877
