Book Review: Shit London: Snapshots of a City on the Edge

Weirdness captured

A mildly amusing book with a few really fun photos amongst all the rather bland ones. The 106 show what you can expect to see in various parts of down-market London though I think it's possible to see most of the these in any major UK city. The majority of photos show the predictable defaced posters and signs with a few hand-lettered ones. Other shots show the falling apart environment, like an abandoned car full of weeds or a bike padlocked to some railings but minus both wheels and a saddle.

This has all been done before though and I think rather more successfully. The Caravan Gallery from Portsmouth, in southern England, has produced two lovely photo books that beautifully capture the holes in the fabric of contemporary British life: Is Britain Great? and Is Britain Great? Volume 2. The really nice thing about these two books is that none of it is contrived or false and the presentation is far superior to the Dalton's London title which is really nothing more than amateur snaps.

The book features several quirky London shop fronts. A really big selection, from around the country can be found in Guy Swillingham's Shop Horror: The Best of the Worst in British Shop Names. The art of the pun name clearly hasn't deserted Britain's shop owners.

Shit London: Snapshots of a City on the Edge is available at Amazon (US | CA | UK | DE | FR | IT | ES | JP | CN)

Other titles that do a better job of revealing contemporary Britain.

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