12-05-2025
The other side of London in photographs — from David Bailey to garage raves
In the late 1990s the raw power of London's nightlife was captured in a series of images by the photographer Ewen Spencer — at a time when house and garage music were evolving into something faster and more frenzied: 'speed garage'. As the tempo rose from 125 beats per minute to 145, Spencer caught dancers in euphoric poses at Sunday night parties called Twice as Nice, at The End nightclub in Bloomsbury.
Spencer is among more than 30 photographers whose images of the capital are celebrated at the tenth edition of the Photo London photography fair this week in a special London Lives exhibition. David Bailey's East End portraiture, Julia Fullerton-Batten's recreations of historical scenes along the Thames, Nick Turpin's steamy shots of night bus passengers, Nigel Shafran's portraits of teenage shoppers and many more will be on London's London Lives is at the Embankment East and West Galleries of Somerset House from Thursday to Sunday
