Writer Samuel Johnson's quotation from 1775 states that "When a man is tired of London, he is tired of life, for there are more things in London than a man could wish for.
This project is a personal exploration of the city I was born in. London is arguably the most multi-cultural on earth and with a population of almost 9 million, is also the largest city in Western Europe. It is also a city full of complexities and paradoxes. Behind new glass edifices worshipping 21st century mammon lie 17th century churches. Tower blocks from the 1960s replace the old 19th century slums dwarfing corner pubs still standing after the 1940s Blitz. Cobblestones from the 18th century cause taxi drivers to curse their 21st century suspension and through the city runs the River Thames; a thoroughfare from before Roman times to this day. Everywhere one looks, traces are revealed of a city steeped in its sprawling past.
Yet despite the palpable history felt in the architecture and fabric, its people define the heartbeat of a city. There is a marvellous cultural and social mix in London, whose commonality is co-existence in this sometimes-impossible city. A co-existence tempered with a time-old British tolerance born of privacy and reserve and essentially a dark, dry, ironic humour exemplified by Dr Johnson's comment that holds true in its double-edged nature, over three centuries later.
Photographed with a Leica constantly at hand for each London adventure, whether a tip to the shops, a night out with friends or a tube ride to the outer reaches, this project looks at the city of my birth through its people.
I've taken their stories, photographed in my own Londoner's way. Some are tinged with joyous levity and some with a distinctly darker edge.
Together they tell my own tale of the fantastic city I love and occasionally hate.