Photos of South London before gentrification

[JuanTwoThree]

South of the river: London before gentrification – in pictures


Atmospheric South London photos

 

[blossie33]

Great photos!
I like them all but especially this one

 

[Guineveretoo]

They are really nice photos! And I love the commentary as well.

 

[brogdale]

They are really nice photos! And I love the commentary as well.

Gotta say that I found aspects of the commentary oddly self-centred, romanticised to the point of delusion, contradictory and patronising.

I used to drive around trying to make visual sense of neighbourhoods such as Mitcham, Colliers Wood and Tooting – areas that seem to be overlooked in the contemporary history of the UK capital.

The carwash and the colours reminded me of the west coast of the US – maybe Los Angeles. A couple of years ago, the site was cleared for the inevitable property developers to move in

Summerstown
This is a lesser-known area in south-west London between Earlsfield, Tooting and Wimbledon. I had driven by this cafe hundreds of times and never really noticed it. However, late one wintery Sunday afternoon when the shadows were deep and long, it sprung out at me like an Edward Hopper painting

Mitcham
I met this woman waiting for her daughter to pick her up. She was incredibly shy, but after a little persuasion she agreed to have her picture taken. The way she was dressed and stood seemed to echo a London long gone

 

[JuanTwoThree]

Self regarding and even wanky at times. But then the comparison between the jagged teeth and the toothy plant is a good one.

 

[Cid]

Nah, doesn't do much for me. Nice photos, but that's about it. The tooth thing is a pretty surface-level comparison (one which the denture repairer might of thought of themselves), the people to some extent have their agency removed and are just what he wants them to be. And just generally feels patronising.