In 1937, a young Henri Cartier-Bresson (opens in new tab) travelled to London to document the coronation of King George VI (opens in new tab) for French news magazine Regards (opens in new tab). The set of photographs (opens in new tab), which captured a throng of adoring citizens in various candid scenes (and noticeably omitted any record of the actual monarch himself), was significant not just because it was an important record of London life and its people, but also because it was the first of his photojournalist works to be published.
Fast-forward to 2012 - another significant time in Britain's history - and Cartier-Bresson's photographs (together with that of 40 other international photographers) make up the body of Tate Britain (opens in new tab)'s Olympic (opens in new tab)-bandwagon-hopping exhibition, 'Another London (opens in new tab)'. Taken by an international cast of image-makers who pointed their cameras at various London scenes between 1930 and 1980, the show is a look at the capital from the outside in.
The photographs come from the Eric and Louise Franck (opens in new tab) London Collection, and over two thirds of the 1400-strong image library, created over 20 years, has been donated to the Tate. Curators Helen Delaney and Simon Baker have chosen works by celebrated names such as Elliott Erwitt (opens in new tab), Bruce Davidson (opens in new tab) and Bill Brandt (opens in new tab), together with snapshots of the city by lesser known photographers.
Hailing from East and West Europe, the Soviet Union, Latin America, Africa and the Caribbean, they each had different relationships with the capital - some were immigrants, some tourists or on assignments, and others refugees.
Varied and contrasting, there are glimpses of life for the affluent upper and middle classes, as well as shots highlighting the plight of the urban poor, such as Bill Brandt (opens in new tab)'s arresting 'Bethnal Green Housewife', taken in 1937, capturing a scene from an east London doorstep. There is, however, a resounding cloud of London fog and smog which features in all the scenes, despite the changing decades. Strangley, it becomes another rich facet in the character of this dynamic metropolis.
‘"Keep Britain white" graffiti, Balham' by Neil Kenlock, 1972.
'The Queen's Silver Jubilee' by Martine Franck, 1977.
'Queen's guard marching' by Bruce Davidson, 1960.
'Mike Eghan at Piccadilly Circus, London' by James Barnor, 1967.
'10 years ago, Victory Day, The lights go up in London' by Felix Man, 1945
'Lyons Corner House, Tottenham Court Road, London' by Wolfgang Suschitzky, 1934
'Hampstead Heath Fair' by Wolfgang Suschitzky, 1948
'Roxy 2', from the Punk series, by Karen Knorr and Olivier Richon, 1976
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