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Soho has an almost unique place in London's history. It's transformation from being the city's dirty and hedonistic heart to the clean and gentrified area it is quickly becoming is one of the clearest examples of the way London has changed. A new exhibition, A Time and A Place... For Everything, shows these changes and Soho and the area’s landmarks and icons through it’s history. All the photographers exhibited have lived and worked in Soho and documented the evolution of the area and it’s community over time.
Robert Stallard is one of the artists featured. His pictures were all taken from the early 1970s, a time he sees as a golden era for Soho: “living in Soho, a square mile still barely touched by modern development in central London, one became very aware of its cosmopolitan character, it’s sizeable community living and working in affordable accommodation, its smells, its network of ancient streets and buildings.”
The era captured by Stallard marks a point at which central London was starting to seriously change. "Neighbouring Covent Garden was being redeveloped with apparent lack of respect to its community and character, and ‘grand’ schemes were afoot for Piccadilly Circus." This is still an important issue in Soho, and residents and campaigners are still protesting the "insensitive development" that Stallard saw facing London 40 years ago.
A Time and A Place... For Everything opens on September 29 at L'Escargot in Soho, and runs until late 2015.