I used to live next to Borough market and saw it devolve from a genuine working class market to a chi-chi hive. The old pie and mash shop was replaced by offices as were all the other old school business. It was like watching someone you love being embalmed whilst still alive. I now live in Asia where the market tradition are still vivid and alive.
I sometimes wonder if city life used to be more bustling, or if photographers just avoided taking pictures of places without many people.
The past feels so alive!
I live in Spitalfields. I'm sometimes in awe of all the history here.
I love these old pictures of London. You can feel the life.
At the time London was the largest city in the world at the centre of the large emprie of all time.
No wonder Dracula was making a beeline for it.
Great picture! Those crowded streets were no doubt a pickpockets dream.
Beautiful images of Capitalism building itself.