Portrait of a city: celebrating over 100 years of street photography in London

Featuring images dating from as far back as the 1880's, London Street Photography, currently on show at the Museum of London (until 4 September), charts over 130 years of the genre through the images of one city: from the first photographic records of buildings and the first multi-shot camera able to freeze moving people to social documentary images and conceptual art. 

'Street photography has become so accessible and popular over the last few years that we knew we had to do something with it,' explains Mike Seaborne, Senior Curator of Photographs at the Museum. 'We thought that if people are interested in it now, then they would be interested in the history, as it essentially hasn't changed - it is still that element of chance, surprise and the unknown - the photographers are not in a studio, so they can't control what is going on.'

To celebrate all things streets-of-London, the Museum has teamed up with The Big Issue - the magazine famous for helping London's homeless, which celebrates its 20th birthday this year - and is inviting its sellers to document their unique take on London street life. The resulting photographs will be published in the magazine with the readers favourites becoming part of the London Street Photography exhibtion in June.

Follow the link to the Museum of London's blog to for images from the Big Issue initiative