Comments on: London Night

By: Pimlico Pete

Pimlico Pete — Tue, 15 May 2018 22:28:48 +0000

The Swan & Edgar building has a flat roof between the steep pitches fronting on Regent Street (as shown) and Piccadilly. I guess Harold Burdekin would have obtained access to the roof hatch, hopefully officially. Quite a mountain climb with his professional kit, resulting in the breathtaking view for him and for us.

All of the set-up locations seem guessable with some accuracy, either from their explicit title or with a little research and map study. Except for “Street Corner”. Where on Earth (or the portion of the Earth that is London) is that one?

By: christine naylor

christine naylor — Fri, 03 Mar 2017 17:51:43 +0000

Loved these…may I ask how you managed to get the Regent Street photo.where did you take this from?.thank you

By: Malcolm

Malcolm — Thu, 07 Jan 2016 10:55:04 +0000

I saw these magnificent gravure prints at an exhibition many years ago somewhere in Farringdon, it may have been the London Metropolitan Archive or another library. They really were astonishingly beautiful. Fabulous blue photogravures that seemed to float in their own space as if they were portals into another time that you could walk into. Probably the best London photographs I’ve ever seen, real works of art. The closest thing to how I imagine the London of Dickens. Bill Brandt’s London pictures come close but they don’t have the poetic light or soul of these. There is a copy of the very rare book in the London Met Archive too.

By: Marion Willson

Marion Willson — Fri, 18 Dec 2015 15:22:14 +0000

I have often meant to comment on this amazing website. It makes beautiful reading material
and the photos are truly astounding. I used to work down Upper Thames Street in the sixties
and saw the very company (photo taken from the river Thames in 1920) O’Brien Thomas.
And when I was 15 my very first job was with Kearley & Tonge, in Mitre Square. The scene
of a Jack the Ripper murder. Another photo in this section is a ship not unlike a Nelson Line ship, the merchant shipping company my Father worked for. And I’ve experienced the fogs and smogs of London where you couldn’t see a hand in front of your face and in the end the grey,
yellowy thickness would make your eyes ache.
What wonderful, wonderful atmospheric photos.
Finally I wrote a poem (Just had one printed in a poetry club magazine) I was inspired by your good selves to write it. Entitled The Tale od Old London, I would love you to read it sometime.

Kind regards, Marion

By: Mike Charlton

Mike Charlton — Fri, 30 Jan 2015 21:55:36 +0000

These sublime pictures look like photos of film or theatre sets, they seem so distant from any night-time photos of London that could be taken today. I love them!

By: Andrew Medhurst

Andrew Medhurst — Mon, 17 Feb 2014 14:12:43 +0000

Absolutely beautiful. Lovely shades of blue.

By: Russ Dixon

Russ Dixon — Wed, 02 Oct 2013 19:41:19 +0000

I know the air was really polluted back when these were taken, but it really lends itself to producing some beautiful light,

By: Goodnight Vienna

Goodnight Vienna — Wed, 02 Oct 2013 19:36:51 +0000

Such beautiful photographs – thank you for bring them to us. I would love a series of prints on one of my walls *hints*

By: Tony

Tony — Wed, 08 May 2013 20:36:31 +0000

I like these pics. I have lived in London all my life. It isn’t a beautiful city like Venice or somewhere all pretty pretty. And thank God for that! It’s a mass of everything, it’s a jumble, an evolving place, always changing, and that is good. Let’s be careful we aren’t constantly wanting to preserve everything at any cost. It’s a fine line.

By: Cherub

Cherub — Wed, 27 Feb 2013 19:39:44 +0000

Fascinated by the image of Black Raven Alley as I worked a stone’s throw from Upper/Lower Thames St in the 80s and early 90s – I guess it was gone by then? You can almost see villains from Sherlock Holmes lurking in these images.