Shutting Up Shop (Late 1970s)
Like many artists, John Londei explores different area’s of photography from black and white to using the studio and photographing famous, old, young people and so on. Londei studied at the Medway College of Art where he found his passion for Photography. He is also an award-winning advertising and editorial photographer.
”Shutting Up Shop” is a series of images where Londei shot images over a seventeen year period which started in the early 1970’s. These images were based around small traditional shops but have now disappeared over the years. There are a wide range of shops featured in this series from tea shops to tobacco and flower shops. A lot of the images were taken around London but also across different regions in the UK. These photographs have been held at The National Portrait Gallery and The Museum of London as part of solo exhibitions.
Looking at the series of work which Londei created, I am inspired to recreate images similar to the one above. Vintage shops spark my interest the most when thinking about a shoot similar to Londei’s work. I feel that photographing old shops would be interesting
because of the unique antiques that are shown in the display windows. However, I also felt that photographing an employe from the shop would be intriguing simply because of how they dress for work as some places may or may not have a dress code.
Overall, Londei’s series, ”Shutting up Shop” has inspired me to recreate his images in my own way. I will be scouting for a number of locations which have vintage shops. Simple and unique is what I would describe these particular images that are related to this series.
Reference: John Londei Photography. 2013. Shops. [ONLINE] Available at: http://www.johnlondei.co.uk/index.php?filename=index. [Accessed 01 March 15
Londe, J (2007).Shutting Up Shop: The Decline of the Traditional Small Shop. London: Dewi Lewis Ltd. 20-25
Representation 