I’m really glad one of my tutors recommended that I look at John Londei’s work. I’ve just picked up his book from Stevenage Library and it is beautiful.
Thank you Hertfordshire Library Service for having a copy of this!
The scope of his project was pretty vast – he was photographing “traditional small shops” for a seventeen year period starting in 1972. His project was not based on a specific community so the sixty shops featured in his book are scattered all across the county. Like the others projects I’ve mentioned, the shops are shown empty of customers – just the shopkeepers posing in, or sometimes outside, their premises.
How each shop’s story is told
For every shot there’s a few paragraphs about the history of the shop and, more importantly, the people who ran them. And in many cases it’s clear that he was capturing scenes that would soon be gone, as many of the shopkeepers are elderly: the last of their family keeping the business going. And this is where his project stands out from the others: although the photos were taken in the 70s and 80s, the book was not published until 2007, by which time he’d gone back and visited the premises again to see what had happened in the twenty to thirty years or so that had passed.
Revisiting every shop in 2004
And sure enough, just as he’d expected, the majority are no longer trading. Only seven of the original sixty shops featured remained in business.
Whilst I don’t suppose I’m about to embark on a project to record Stevenage High Street over such a long period, seeing John Londei’s book makes me realise that what I have in mind really is about recording something of the Old Town community as it is now. For it won’t always be the same.
John Londei himself died just last year. You can see more of this series, and other work, on his website.
The Comfort Zone 
Hi, thank you so much for writing such a lovely review on my father’s book. I remember myself as a child being ‘dragged’ around some of the shops probably being a complete pain but I feel very lucky now to have been a part of such a wonderful project. It also delights me that his book is being recommended by tutors which ensures his legacy will live on.
Anna Londei
Anna, thank you so much for this response. Your father’s book has been an inspiration to me. My own local project is still very much in its infancy; progress so far can be seen here if you’re interested: coultart.com/oldtown
Hi Trevor, i’ve just had a look through your photographs from your shop project and I think you should be extremely pleased with what you have achieved. I can definitely see my father’s influences with your clever use of angles and attention to details(I like you had the dog included he would have done the same!) They are like a modern day version and I know how much my father would have enjoyed to look at them. I think his favourite would have been the picture framing photograph as he would have liked the way the angles of the beams worked with the angled photo frames stacked against each other and even the angles of the walls work all together.
The way my father used to work always fascinated me..for someone so creative he was also incredibly meticulous and every shot was planned right down to the tiniest detail, everything was there for a reason. He loved people, he loved their stories and loved to tell them through his photographs. I’ll let you into a little secret into something he used to do. This actually used to embarrass the hell out of me when I was younger but i know understand why and it’s actually pretty clever! When he would start to shoot he would become almost like a different character, clown like, clumsy and acting like he really didn’t know what he was doing. The reason he did this was purely to relax his subject in order to bring out their true personality and to also make them feel like they were the ones in control. He had this remarkable way of always getting what he wanted out of them without them really realising as they were too busy thinking does this man know what he’s doing?!
After is was all over he would always get their address and promise to send them their own print copy, he never broke that promise once, it was his way of saying thank you. When he was revisiting what had become of the old shops in 2004 he knocked on the door of one that had since become a private home and just handed the person a photograph and said I thought you would like to know what this house used to look like and walked off. He said the stunned man’s face was a picture but his job was done.
I am looking forward to reading more of your blog, your love of photography clearly shines through. If I can be of help in any way please don’t hesitate to contact me. I’m hoping to publish my father’s second book soon which is all about his group and portrait shots, luckily it’s all been written!
Best wishes,
Anna Londei
Thanks again, Anna, for your comments. It delights me that you like my work, and even more that you think your father would have enjoyed them. This blog was specifically for the university assignment, which is now completed, so although the project will continue, this blog will not be updated any longer. New shots will always be added to the project website at coultart.com/oldtown and I will soon get back to updating my personal blog at trevorcoultart.wordpress.com.
I am reading this years after knowing John. I modeled for him on a couple of occasions and loved working for him. I was a complete amateur and was stopped in the street by an agent (Bill Hayes?) and asked if I wanted to be in an advert! I thought it was a joke by some friends to set me up. It was a billboard advert for Heineken lager and I was in a hammock. I still remember John’s acting to make me at ease, a truly lovely man and a great photographer.
Duncan