
Winding back the years to post-war Britain, this unique collection of photos tells the story of a city which has transformed over eight decades.

A far cry from today's chaotic London commute, a queue of people wait patiently to board the number 72 tram as it pulls into Embankment in 1952.

In another picture taken in 1973, empty lorries prepare to leave Covent Garden after delivering fruit and vegetables to be sold at market that day.

Bobby Moore signs autographs for fans outside Fulham's ground in another throwback photo - highlighting the gulf between England's 1966 heroes and today's pampered Premier League stars.

The images, which date back to 1948, were captured by Colin O’Brien who has documented his incredible knack for capturing the city's essence in his new book London Life.

From buildings being demolished and three-wheeled cars tipping over to children playing in post-war rubble, O'Brien's album offers a fascinating timeline of London.

When he was just eight years old, his family bought him a Kodak Box Brownie camera and he later graduated to a Leica 111a with a f3.5 Elmar lens.

The keen photographer began by capturing his neighbourhood in Little Italy, as Clerkenwell was known, before moving further afield.

Speaking to Vice, O'Brien said: 'The book is dedicated to my parents and the pictures tell the story of my growing up in a poor part of London where life was hard and work was scarce and a whole generation had been affected by a war.'

Thames Embankment, 1952: Photographer Colin O’Brien writes: 'When I was 12, the trams stopped running forever so I took this picture with my box camera while the driver posed for me'

Skinner St, Clerkenwell, 1952: 'Long since demolished, the Rio Cinema was where we used to go as kids and watch films over and over again until we got bored. Westerns were my favourite and we all loved to mimic the actors and shout and clap at inappropriate moments'

Regent’s Canal, Bethnal Green, 1987: 'George Trewby’s magnificent gasometer constructed for the Gas Light and Coke Company in 1889 towers over the frozen canal'

Clerkenwell Road, 1970s: After more than a century of use by hundreds of families, Victoria Dwellings - once my home - was demolished and I moved with my family to a flat on the 23rd floor of the newly built Michael Cliffe House on the other side of Clerkenwell

Nightingale Estate, Hackney Downs, 1999 Hackney Council decided that many of their high-rise blocks were failures as housing and decided to blow them up. Of the six towers that made up the estate, five were demolished. Since 2003, low-rise buildings have been constructed where the blocks once stood

The Griffin, Shoreditch, 30th June 2007: 'Three smokers enjoy their last cigarettes on the final day of legal smoking in public places'

Chatsworth Rd, Hackney, 2010: 'Suleyman bought this shoe repair shop in 1967, when it was like a time-capsule full of old leather sewing machines and calendars from the 1950s. Even pairs of shoes that were repaired more than ten years ago but never claimed by their owners were still lying around. He got up at 4am every morning and opened the shop between 7am and 4pm, until it closed recently'

Mare St, Hackney, 2009: 'I always had a soft spot for Woolworths. The first shop opened on the 6th November 1909 and I took this photograph on 6th January 2009, the last day of trading'

Chatsworth Rd, Hackney, 2008: 'A friend took me for a meal one Saturday morning at Jim’s Cafe and it was the best breakfast I had eaten in a long time. I asked Dave, the proprietor, if I could take some pictures and I did shots of him standing in the doorway. When I returned about a month later with the prints, Dave’s wife told me he had died and the cafe closed soon after'

Highbury Corner, 7th May 2006: 'Three men sit comatose after the last football match at Highbury Stadium before Arsenal moved to the new Emirates Stadium in Holloway Rd'

King’s Cross, 1974: 'These gasometers were built in the 1850s as part of the Pancras Gasworks'

Clapton Pond, Hackney, 2005: 'A group pose proudly to have their picture taken on the last day of the Routemaster buses running on the 38 route, from Clapton Pond to Victoria Station'

Long Acre, Covent Garden, 1986: The building was being demolished by a crane swinging an iron ball while two men stood on top of the ruin and finished the job with sledgehammers. There must be an easier was to earn a living

Hatton Garden, 1948: Raymond Scallione and his friend, Joe Bacuzzi, pose for me in this photograph taken when I was eight years old

Chatsworth Road, Hackney, 2010: 'Steve sits on his stock of tyres in the shop that he and his family ran for more than 50 years. It smelled of rubber and the Michelin man in the window was covered in dust. The shop closed on 2 October 2010, shortly after I took this photograph'

Covent Garden, 1973 The last throes of Covent Garden when it was still a working fruit and vegetable market, supplying shops and restaurants with fresh produce daily. These pictures were taken a few weeks before it closed for good Photograph: Colin O'Brien

The images, which date back to 1948, were captured by Colin O’Brien who has documented his incredible knack for capturing the city's essence in a new book called London Life

Covent Garden, 1973: 'The fruit and vegetable market relocated to the New Covent Garden Market between Vauxhall and Battersea in 1974'

Clerkenwell Fire Station, Rosebery Avenue, 2014: 'When Clerkenwell Fire Station closed in January 2014 after 142 years, I photographed the firefighters on their last day of service at Britain’s oldest operating fire station. London Life, by Colin O’Brien, is published by Spitalfields Life Books, and can be purchased here'

Victoria dwellings, Clerkenwell Road, 1957: The men from Clerkenwell Fire Station were often summoned to fires in the Dwellings

When he was just eight years old, O'Brien's family bought him a Kodak Box Brownie camera and he later graduated to a Leica 111a with a f3.5 Elmar lens

Buckingham Palace Road, Victoria 1962: Maggie McNally’s baby brother, Paul, and the doorman. The doorman leans down to speak to the child who looks up at him quizzically

Swan Wharf, 1956: Much of the City of London remained as vacant bomb sites

Two men walk in a huge empty space on a wet London day not far from the Houses of Parliament

Commenting on the change face of the city, O'Brien says: 'London today is much busier than it was when I was growing up'

Crowds gather in the rain to watch a religious ceremony take place in the streets

A taxi circles the roundabout on a night in Piccadilly - which has remained largely the same

Lightning over St Paul's Cathedral: Lightning flash over St Paul’s, August 27th 1973, published in the Evening Standard the next day

Burgess Park Lake, Old Kent Road, 1987: 'The girls that I had photographed before sat on a bench beside this man who had been following them around and, when I raised my camera again, each of them pulled a funny face and poked their tongues out'

Park Bench. Old Kent Road, 1984: These two gentlemen were from Scotland and somewhat down on their luck. I gave them some money for food but I think it went towards another bottle of cider

Juntion of Clerkenwell Road and Farringdon Road, 1960: 'I never knew what caused this accident, as no other vehicle was involved, so I can only imagine that rainwater caused the car to skid into a lamppost. The buckled bonnet shows how easy it is to bend a piece of metal, just as is depicted in one of John Gilroy’s last posters for Guinness, depicting his famous ‘man with a girder’ shaping it into a figure five'

A newspaper salesman displays a dated and slightly vague front page headlined 'Bitter vigil'

O'Brien says he's very happy that street photography is being celebrated around the world

Junction of Clarkenwell Road and Farringdon Road 11th JUNE 1962: I read later that a child died in this accident. There was a rumour that the traffic lights malfunctioned and all turned green at once

A lone man wanders past the tram track on a frosty day in the city

A family sits in a London cafe, with one of the group smoking indoors while smiling for the photo

Men climb a fence to get a better view at a football match in the days before stadiums became largely seating-only venues

1966 World Cup winning captain Bobby Moore waits for fans outside Fulham Football Club's ground

O'Brien says he is currently working on a project of the tourists in Piccadilly Circus around Eros taking photographs of themselves and their friends with selfie sticks

Queen Victoria Street, 1956: A young couple stroll, arm-in-arm in the City of London. Note the sign above them advertising typewriter repairs. There were no computers in those days



