The Temperance Sweep - Victorian era public domain image

The project “Street Life in London’ was created in 19th century by the radical journalist Adolphe Smith and the photographer John Thomson. The monthly magazine, that was publishing from 1876 to 1877 included texts and images of people on the London’s streets. That was a new genre of social documentary photography, which preceded the appearance of photojournalism. Their work captured the life of ordinary people who eked out a precarious and marginal existence. There were shoe-blacks, chair-caners, musicians, flower-sellers, and many others. The interest to the urban poverty gives the authors the reputation of the pioneers in photojournalism and their project now considered as a classic instance of social documentary. Later, in 1878, the photographs were published in book form. The verses of this book were scanned and now stored in British Library of Political and Economic Science, which is located in London. John Thomson was a talented and influential photographer, who had spent ten years travelling in, and taking photographs of, the Far East. On his return to London he joined with Adolphe Smith, a socialist journalist, in a project to photograph the street life of the London poor. The volumes were published in monthly parts as Street Life in London, and were an early example of social and documentary photography. Street Life in London, published in 1876-7, consists of a series of articles by the radical journalist Adolphe Smith and the photographer John Thomson. The pieces are short but full of detail, based on interviews with a range of men and women who eked out a precarious and marginal existence working on the streets of London, including flower-sellers, chimney-sweeps, shoe-blacks, chair-caners, musicians, dustmen and locksmiths.

Adolphe Smith is perhaps best known for his work documenting the lives of the poor in London's East End. In the late 1800s, he collaborated with the journalist John Thomson to produce a series of books that combined text and photographs to create a vivid portrait of the poverty and hardship faced by many of the city's working class. Smith's photographs are notable for their realism and attention to detail. He often captured everyday scenes of street life, such as children playing or workers going about their business. His images are also notable for their sympathetic portrayal of the people he photographed, which was unusual at a time when many photographers focused on sensationalism and shock value. In addition to his work in documentary photography, Smith also experimented with other forms of photography, including portraiture and landscape photography. He continued to work in photography until his death in 1920.