In the space of three days in 1956, Roger Mayne photographed children at play in a street in North Kensington. The photographs of Southam Street became the evidence of a community and a way of life which vanished under the eyes of developers and politicians; the street itself was demolished. Mayne's work is the evidence of a vanished age, yet works as more than a social document. His pictures capture the essence of the age. He is much admired by contemporary magazines because he shows so much style. The book follows the development of his work from the children in Southam Street to his own family in Lyme.

Author Biography

Roger Mayne was born in Cambridge in 1929. In 1954 he came to London as a freelance photographer, where he concentrated on photographing the city's slums and street markets. His work in Southam Street, North Kensington in the late fifties is regarded as a milestone in British photography, and was exhibited at the Victoria and Albert Museum in 1986. A book of his work, Roger Mayne Photographs, was published by Cape in 2001. He is married to the playwright Ann Jellicoe, and lives in Lyme Regis.