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Date updated: 9/11/2020

The arrival of photography in London in 1839 changed the way people saw their city, and each other, forever. With the ‘whoomph!’ of a photographer’s flash, quite suddenly it was possible to see real life images captured ‘in the flesh’, rather than as an artist’s sketch or painting.

The collections at London Metropolitan Archives (LMA) contain an extraordinary range of photographs from Queen Victoria’s reign, recording the capital and its people in stunning detail. Whether in carefully posed studio portraits or images of people gathered in the street, it seems that almost everyone wanted to be recorded on camera.

Image showing the Oxford Arms, from the collection of the Society for Photographing Relics of Old London
Image showing the Oxford Arms, from the collection of the Society for Photographing Relics of Old London (SPROL)
Explore the SPROL collection
Crowds throng to see the opening of the Holborn Viaduct in 1869
Crowds attending the opening of the Holborn Viaduct in 1869
See more images of Victorian London

This exhibition, at LMA in 2015, delved into these collections to present some of most striking images of London and Londoners from the era, from the first known photograph of the capital to the opening of Blackwall Tunnel, taking in the Crystal Palace, the first Tube line and life on the city’s streets.

Visit Collage: The London Picture Archive to see more of Victorian London
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