A World-Class City of Bad Taste: Patrick Dalton Explores London's Darker Side

Understanding and exploring the role of street photography as an agent for social reflection and expression is now more important than ever. However, the dissemination of street photography, facilitated by the web, has meant definitions are difficult to pin down. This certainly isn’t a bad thing, and allows photographers such as Patrick Dalton, the man behind Shit London, an arena for expression.

Ahead of the London love-in brought on by the 2012 Olympics, Shit London captures the eccentricities of the capital city. For Dalton, London isn’t about Westminster Abbey, Big Ben, St Paul’s of The Ivy, he prefers to focus his lens on the area’s of the city that remain hidden and undiscovered.

It’s a humorous book, in which David Cameron’s campaign posters and comical typos play the lead role. There are some real gems, ‘Sellfridges’ in Stoke Newington, and the destitute sofa branded ‘Louis Futon’. However, it’s best read in stages. There are only so many bad-puns and grammatical errors one can take.

Shit London is published by Portico, and is on sale now.

anovabooks.com

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Images:
Courtesy the artist