In the decade following the First World War, London was a city of contrasts, readjusting to peacetime while embracing a new modern era. Photographer Thomas Donald McLeish, using a custom-built camera with large 5×4 glass plates, captured this unique period with exceptional detail. His street portraits move beyond simple snapshots, offering a candid and humanizing look at the everyday people who inhabited the city.
A Cross-Section of Society
McLeish’s photographs present a wide spectrum of London life. His lens focused on ordinary people going about their daily routines, providing a valuable record of different social classes and occupations. The images show business-class men dressed in formal attire—three-piece suits, bowler hats, and polished shoes—walking with purpose through the financial districts. Their postures are often stiff and formal, reflecting the business etiquette of the time.
In stark contrast are his portraits of London’s working class. McLeish photographed street vendors, known as costermongers, standing proudly by their carts piled high with fruits, vegetables, or other wares. These individuals, often dressed in worn but practical clothing like flat caps and heavy aprons, look directly at the camera with a sense of resilience. The fine detail captured by his large-format camera reveals the textures of their clothes and the character etched into their faces.
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The City’s Youngest Residents
Children are a recurring subject in McLeish’s work, and his photographs of them are particularly revealing. He captured them playing in the streets and parks, often in working-class neighborhoods. The images show children dressed in simple, often patched-up clothing, a sign of the economic realities for many families after the war.
These are not sentimentalized portraits. The children are shown as they were: energetic, curious, and sometimes grimy from their play. They climb on statues, gather in groups on sidewalks, and engage directly with the camera, offering a glimpse into a childhood that was lived largely in public, outdoor spaces.
A City in Transition
The backdrop of these portraits is a London at a technological and social crossroads. The streets are a mix of old and new forms of transportation. Horse-drawn carts and wagons share the road with early motorcars and the iconic double-decker buses of the era. This blend of the 19th and 20th centuries is a constant feature of the city’s landscape.
The photographer’s choice to document these scenes with a photojournalistic style was notable for the time. Rather than relying on posed studio portraits, McLeish took his large, tripod-mounted camera onto the busy streets. The technical quality of his 10×8 prints allows for an incredible level of clarity, making it possible to study the expressions on people’s faces, the details of their clothing, and the architectural environment that surrounded them. His work provides a window into the lives of Londoners navigating a decade of significant change.
