16.08.12
Lost London is revealed as British Imaging release old sepia photos of the city
A newly released archive from the British Film Institute documents the changing face of London in the early 1920s through evocative, sepia-tinged images.
Familiar landmarks such as Big Ben, Tower Bridge and St. Paul's have been released, as well as the Olympic stadium from the 1908 Games.
Old films taken from London have had stills extracted from them and tirelessly worked on to show the world a sepia-tinged forgotten London.
The unmissable pillars outside the Lyceum Theatre in central London
A waterway in central London
The neglected arena where Britain hosted the Olympics over a century ago fell into disrepair just a decade after the Games. It eventually made way for redevelopment of White City underground station - a fate in stark contrast to the multi-million pound arena made in Stratford for London 2012, which also appears in the portfolio.
The Lyceum Theatre is another landmark captured in 1920 sepia - with the exterior looking almost identical to how it is today.
The British Film Institute say the six image archives will allow people to 'check out the street markets on a Sunday and wander down little alleys, past pot-bellied pubs, inns of court and the buildings that Dickens knew.'
This image of a local shop gives an insight into street life in London in the early 1920s
The footage also shows the Olympic Stadium from the 1908 Games, having fallen into disrepair years after London hosted the event
Roads and pavements in the capital looked significantly less crowded in the 1920s than they are today
A worker at an 'Italian Butcher' greets a neighbour outside the store in another shot from the bygone era
The British Film Institute added that the pictures allow people to 'see generations of Londoners – all now gone but strangely still like the Londoner of today.'
The images, painstakingly restored to their original tinting and toning by the BFI, give a fascinating insight into London life in the silent era of the mid-1920s.
The films were originally created to document city life across London, and were shown during cinema screenings.
According to the BFI, the films, 'Liked to highlight the contrasts in the capital, East End and West End, rich and poor, natives and immigrants – often looking beyond the stereotypes to show surprising views of the city.'
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