Street Life in London
 | |
| Authors | Adolphe Smith (words) and John Thomson (photos) |
|---|---|
| Language | English |
| Subject | Working class Londoners |
| Genre | Non-fiction |
| Published in | London |
| Publisher | Sampson Low |
| Publication date | 1877 |
Street Life in London was a 1877 book written by Adolphe Smith with photography by John Thomson.
The book is one of the first examples of social documentary photography.
Production
Street Life in London was a 1877 publication of a collaboration between the radical[1] social journalist Adolphe Smith and Scottish photographer John Thomson.[2][3] It was published by Sampson Low, Marston, Searle and Rivington, in London.[1]
The authors believed they were continuing the important work of Henry Mayhew, who published London Labour and the London Poor, but that they were adding a unique value by incorporating photography to the ongoing documentation of London's working class poor.[4]
Synopsis
The book gives the reader an insight into the daily lives of working class and poor Londoners.[5] It is arranged around photographs by Thomson with accompanying text by Smith.[5] The texts are brief, but include detail, including information from interviewing the photograph's subjects.[1] Subjects include flower-sellers, chimney-sweeps, shoe-blacks, chair-caners, musicians, dustmen and locksmiths.[1]
Reception
Street Life in London is considered the first[6] or at least one of the earliest examples of social documentary photography.[2] The book described its aim "to bring before the public some account of the present condition of the London street folk, and to supply a series of faithful pictures of the people themselves."[2]
Author Emily Kathryn Morgan published an in-depth study on Street Life in London in 2014 which addresses both the successes and failures of the original book.[7]
References
- 1 2 3 4 "Street Life in London". LSE Digital Library. London School of Economics. Retrieved 2022-11-20.
- 1 2 3 "Street Life in London in 1877 – in pictures". The Guardian. 2013-11-04. Retrieved 2022-11-20.
- ↑ Light, Alison (2020-07-02). "The general tone is purple". London Review of Books. Vol. 42, no. 13. ISSN 0260-9592. Retrieved 2022-11-20.
- ↑ Ghosh, Tanushree. "Gifting Pain: The Pleasures of Liberal Guilt in 'London, a Pilgrimage' and 'Street Life in London'". Victorian Literature and Culture, vol. 41, no. 1, 2013, pp. 91–123. JSTOR, JSTOR 24575674. Accessed 20 Nov. 2022.
- 1 2 Angela Vanhaelen (2002) "Street life in London and the organization of labour", History of Photography, 26:3, pp. 191-204, doi:10.1080/03087298.2002.10443529.
- ↑ Davies, Philip (2022-10-21). "In pictures: the lost neighbourhoods of London, from 1860 to 1920". The Telegraph. ISSN 0307-1235. Retrieved 2022-11-20.
- ↑ Emily Kathryn Morgan. Street Life in London: Context and Commentary Edinburgh and Boston: Museums Etc., 2014. ISBN 978-1-910-14401-5. Review by Simon Knowles in History of Photography, Volume 40.2, 2016, doi:10.1080/03087298.2016.1182331.