Fifty people of East London who are true to type

An East London ‘creative’: image by Adam Dant

Fascinated by the history of London, Adam Dant’s illustrated 50 People of East London is inspired by the Cries of London, a series of 18th century oil paintings of street sellers by Francis Wheatley.

Wheatley was better known at the time for his aristocratic portraits, but his depictions of characters such as the Knife Grinder and Ballad Seller, all regular, working people, became his lasting legacy.

In Dant’s portraits of the different types of East Londoner, which include the Postcode Gangster, the Smart Phone Diviner and the Nigerian Shoe Importer, Dant is similarly giving a voice to those he calls “individuals of unique qualities” that he sees around him, as well as creating a unique guidebook that will inform tourists and amuse locals.

Dant has lived in Shoreditch for over 20 years and has always made a map of wherever he is. He is used to taking inspiration from his immediate environment, and his original approach to cartography also includes street names and people. His maps show him to be an astute, witty and satirical observer of contemporary life.

“I like to give the viewer an awareness that their presence in East London is part of a historical continuity that goes back hundreds of years,” he says.

Maps can be stiffly formal, objective and definite, but Dant brings them to life by inking people into his street plans and by using humour.

This book has grown out of Dant’s unusual practice of making maps with an anthropological ‘people’ focus. By suggesting people conform to these character types, Dant encourages readers to “look for yourself in the depiction of the everyday street life”. 

50 People of East London is published by Hoxton Mini Press RRP: £12.95 or £45.00 for the signed Collector’s Edition (includes print) www.hoxtonminipress.com ISBN: 9780957699816