London stories
Explore the stories of the world's greatest city and uncover the hidden treasures of our collections.
All stories

London through a camera lens
The photographers who've captured London's buildings, people and subcultures



How Charles Booth mapped London poverty
And showed the complexity of social class in the late 19th century

Henry Grant photographed London from every angle
Countless London stories in black and white

Who are the pearly kings & queens?
Since the late 1800s, pearlies have donned their button-covered regalia to raise money for charity

Lady Phyll: Activist & co-founder of UK Black Pride
Campaigner, community builder, champion of LGBTQ+ rights

London scenes & subcultures by Dick Scott-Stewart
Photographing youth and belonging on the capital’s cultural margins

London’s famous bridges
Bridges have helped Londoners cross the Thames for 2,000 years – here's the best of them

London’s lost rivers
Over hundreds of years, these rivers have been abandoned or concealed beneath our streets


How London shaped The Clash
These punk rock trailblazers found inspiration in the city around them


Through the lens of Charlie Phillips
One of the most talented, but long overlooked, photographers of 20th-century Britain

The Great Smog of 1952
12,000 people died when a toxic polluted fog descended on London