Halloween in the East End

Well, it's been a while since the last update to this blog, so I thought I'd mention that there are now some new photos on my Flickr page of the East End of London, taken on 31st October on my last trip to London.

Although the focus of many of the locations is still that of Jack the Ripper, I now find myself becoming more and more interested in the general history of Whitechapel and Spitalfields. This is reflected in the images I have uploaded this time round. In particular, there are views of the Pedley Street railway arch, which had it not been for my excellently knowledgeable friend John Bennett, I would never have found.

Here, we have an isolated rail arch, favoured by film producers looking for that elusive "typical east end" shot. Two films that have utilised this location, are "Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels", and the very underrated 1999 film "Tube Tales". The rest of the viaduct that the arch once formed a part of, has been demolished to make space for the new embankments and bridges of the East London Line Overground extension, due to open in May 2010. For some reason though, this one photogenic arch has been spared the attentions of the demolition teams, and so still offers excellent photographic opportunities!

I'd met up with John Bennett once before, to do some night photography of various Ripper related locations, but this time round, we tended to favour more general locations, such as the arch. John's an expert when it comes to local history, his book "E1 A Journey Through Whitechapel and Spitalfields" is excellent, and I can very much recommend it to anyone wanting to read an overview of the area's history. The accompanying photos in the book are very atmospheric too.

I'll be heading off down to London again on new years eve, and I intend to continue documenting the area before it gets gentrified beyond all recognition! Some of the shots I take will be added to the "Whitechapel 2010" Flickr group, set up by Louis Berk to document the changes to buildings and streets in the locale.

Fragments of London

I've just added a new album to my Flickr page of square photographs (which I call "Fragments") of London. I will be adding to this album as time goes on, but if you fancy having a look at some arty unfamiliar views of familiar landmarks in London, then by all means have a browse!

Fragments of London

Photographs of Jack the Ripper's London

For those reading who have an interest in all things historical, then a visit to the East End of London (specifically Whitechapel and Spitalfields) is very much recommended.

I make a point of visiting on a regular basis, and always like to explore the various streets and alleyways on the look out for that next arty shot. In preparation for the second edition of "Past Traces" (see previous posts), I visited the capital on the 28th August, and spent a fair few hours both in daylight and after dark taking some new photos.

These, and ones taken on previous visits can be viewed on my Flickr page.

Book promotional video

In addition to the video mentioned in the previous post, there's also this short promotional video, that gives an idea of what my book is all about.

Watch it here.

Past Traces by Andrew Firth

Hello all!

Well, I thought I'd drag myself into the 21st Century at long last, and get me a blog set up. On this page, I'll be posting all manner of things that interest me, and that I hope will be of interest to those visiting.

My interests include photography, (particularly of London), electronic music, and video making. There'll be posts on all three of these, plus anything else I think of as time goes on.

To start with, here's a video I've produced showing a walk around the East End of London. It covers the areas linked with the Whitechapel murders of 1888-91, but don't let that put you off!

Past Traces - The Walk

The full walk is outlined in my book "Past Traces" which is available from the blurb publishing service. There's also an option to preview the first 15 pages.

I'll be posting more East End related stuff later.