Cheap Fish of St. Giles's

Considered one of the first uses of documentary photography to bring attention to social concerns, the book Street Life in London (1876–1877) includes photographs by John Thomson and text by journalist Adolphe Smith. Thomson’s portraits lent a degree of authenticity to Smith’s writing. This photograph derives from that important project.

In 1870s London, the poor and working classes often took on highly undesirable jobs to eke out a living on the streets. The costermonger (street seller) pictured in Cheap Fish of St. Giles’s made a precarious living selling whatever goods he could secure. The man described in this image “does not always sell fish, but only when the wind is propitious and it can be bought cheaply.”