North London Food & Culture

Check out these Polaroids of Londontown

An absorbing new photographic book explores the city from 'pram to grave'

Describing her new hardback as a “photographic love letter to this bustling world capital”, snapper Susannah Conway aims to go beyond the tourist sites in her quest to capture “an authentic local experience of the city”.

A Surrey-born writer and photographer who has contributed to publications like The Guardian and Cosmopolitan, Conway has lived in Londontown (“that’s the name I’ve always called her,” she says) on and off for the past two decades. She mixes her signature Polaroid shots with modern digital photos. Here are some of the best.

1. Regent’s Canal

LT_north_RegentsCanal_IMG_3195“I’m almost embarrassed to admit that the day I photographed the stretch of Regent’s Canal from Paddington all the way up to Camden Lock was the first time I’d walked along the towpath in one go. It’s a great way to spend a Sunday afternoon and I love how this shot captures the quiet stillness of the water as it flows beneath the bridge. It feels like a moment out of time, a million miles away from the noise of the city.”


LOCAL ADVERTISING


2. Camden Passage Market

LT_north_Islington2_IMG_0600
“Camden Passage Market is like a precious jewel nestled behind the commotion of Upper Street. My favourite market out of all the London markets, I love how knowledgable the traders are even if they’re not huge fans of tourists and their cameras. I asked the owner of this stall if I could take a picture — “just a quick one” he said, so I made it count!”

3. Hartland Road

LT_north_Camden_pola1“This Polaroid captures the beautiful impermanence of the growing street art scene centred around Camden’s Hartland Road and Hawley Mews. Street art aficionados no longer have to schlep all the way over to Shoreditch and Brick Lane to take in the murals. I knew this shot would make it in to the book the moment I unpeeled it. Street art and Polaroids were made for each other.”

4. Amy Winehouse

LT_north_camden_pola2_rev“I follow the street artist Pegasus on Instagram and when I saw his fabulous depiction of Amy Winehouse painted on the side of a shop on the Caledonian Road I knew it had to be in the book. Winehouse was a North London icon and it felt important to include her looking bold and beautiful. The photography for the book had already been completed by the time her statue was unveiled in Camden Market so I’m happy that this way she’s still included.

5. Mona Lisa

LT_north_Islington1_IMG_0472“When shooting the book I wanted to include parts of the city that would usually be overlooked. This side street in Islington has no significance in the rich history of Londontown, yet to me it captures the essence of the place. A gastro pub (with a leather sofa, no less!), a bloke with a beard and a sexy Mona Lisa on a wall — what’s not to love?”

Londontown: A Photographic Tour of the City’s Delights by Susannah Conway, foreword by Helen Storey (Chronicle Books, £9.99) Copyright © 2016 by Susannah Conway. Buy the book via her website here


Leave a Comment

Leave a Comment

About Kentishtowner

The award-winning print and online title Kentishtowner was founded in 2010 and is part of London Belongs To Me, a citywide network of travel guides for locals. For more info on what we write about and why, see our About section.