T’is the season of the year-end best of photobook list (good ones here and here), and while it’s tempting to show off one’s eccentric and refined taste, I think it’s nicer to narrow in on something fun (and cheap). I picked up Johnny Stiletto’s Vintage 80s a while back, and cannot be happier. Stiletto’s sly, off-the-cuff images of 80s London and its rumpled eccentrics are, unlike many projects these days, accompanied by informative and funny captions. Taken together, they really give a sense of the city at that time, as Thatcher’s arrival shredded its traditional Englishness, attacked its lower classes, and antagonized its youth. Stiletto’s eye is sharp and voracious, capturing pubs, newspaper vendors, artists, punks, and (especially) the London Underground with equanimity and passion.
Photography by Johnny Stiletto. Please visit his site for wonderful, extended digressions about each image.
