On my recent trip to London, I managed to grab some shots around Soho and the West End. Theatre Land is currently booming, with increasingly lavish productions competing with each other. This part of the city has the most character, and sitting in a Soho cafe, you can watch the world go by. All life is here, and Old Compton Street is almost like a film set, bustling with extras and rickshaws.
There is an urgency here, to see and be seen. I just wandered round casually taking pictures, and spotting celebrities. David Walliams strategically positioning himself under a spotlight with a leggy blonde outside the Palace Theatre, and Ian Brown trying to look mean and hard while waiting for a bus. Things must be going well if he’s getting the bus! No wonder the Stone Roses are reforming, so they can all afford Day Savers…
From Ed’s diner to Ronnie Scott’s jazz bar, this is a melting pot, embracing diversity from Chinatown to Oxford Street. There is still an air of notoriety and a sense that anything could happen. Eulogised by Marc Almond and mentioned in Brecht’s Mack the Knife, Soho retains some of the romance of the sixties when gangsters owned most of the property and Carnaby Street was buzzing just round the corner.
the vibes 
I didn’t realise there’s so much neon
You were there! But we were tired, and sometimes I just held the camera in the air without really knowing what I was doing.
You get around mate. Never thought neon could be so interesting. Ronnie Scots was in the Krays nice pic!
I guess it looks like a lot of travelling when I put all my jaunts together on this site, but I don’t get out much (always working!)
It must be difficult to photograph neon – well done! Believe it or not, my aunt actually performs at Ronnie Scott’s every once in a while.
That’s fantastic, what does she play? The Ronnie Scott pic is my favourite one out of all of them, kind of atmospheric. And you’re right – neon needs a bit of patience. Plays hell with exposure…
She does cabaret – Patricia Fitzpatrick. Really entertaining but watch out – she’s a cougar! 🙂
Thanks for the warning, I’ll look out for her. Hopefully I’m going to make it to Cape Cod one day soon! One place I’d really love to go after seeing your wonderful pictures and Edward Hopper’s paintings. You never know…
Hope you make it out here too – let me know if you do and I’ll give you a list of all the good places
Love this and the photos of Brixton. You have an eye for colour and detail. Very interesting shots.
Thank you! I just popped over to your blog and saw some wonderful stuff. I’m following….