London Reframed - Cripplegate Photographic Society
London Reframed
On until 18 March 2027
The City of London & Cripplegate Photographic Society and The London Archives have collaborated to explore London's changing landscape through photography in a new display.
Members of the Society selected historic images from the London Picture Archive as inspiration for new work, creating conversations between past and present. Together, these pairings reveal continuity, transformation and fresh perspectives, celebrating the power of archives and photography to deepen our understanding of the city and its evolving story.
London is a city in constant transformation. Streets are rebuilt, buildings adapted, businesses come and go, and communities evolve. Photography allows us to pause and notice these changes. It captures not only the city's landmarks but also the everyday details that reveal how places are experienced, remembered and reimagined.
The exhibition
This exhibition brings together contemporary work by members of the City of London & Cripplegate Photographic Society with historic images from the London Picture Archive. Each photographer selected an image from the archive as a starting point before creating a new photograph in response. They revisited the original location to explore ideas of place, memory, architecture and change.
The resulting pairings create a dialogue across time. Historic photographs, prints and drawings are shown alongside contemporary responses, inviting visitors to consider both continuity and transformation. Some places have changed beyond recognition, while others remain surprisingly familiar. In every case, the images encourage us to look more closely at the city and the many layers of history embedded within its streets.
Founded in 1899 by the Cripplegate Institute, the City of London & Cripplegate Photographic Society has long encouraged people to develop their photographic practice through shared learning, exhibitions and competitions. More than a century later, it continues to bring together photographers with a wide range of interests and experience, fostering a vibrant creative community in and around the City of London.
The London Archives preserves one of the world's most important collections documenting the history of the capital and its people. Its holdings include photographs, prints, maps, drawings, documents and many other records spanning nearly a thousand years of London's history. Through the London Picture Archive, thousands of these images are freely available online, making the city's visual heritage accessible to researchers, visitors and anyone with an interest in London.
By connecting photographers with historic collections, this exhibition demonstrates how archives continue to inspire creativity, research and fresh perspectives. The result is more than a comparison between "then" and "now". It is an exploration of how photographs shape our understanding of place, revealing what has endured, what has disappeared and how familiar spaces acquire new meanings over time.
We hope these images encourage you to look again at the city around you. London is full of traces, echoes and unexpected connections. Archives help us uncover them, and photography invites us to see them with fresh eyes.
Visiting the display
This small display is free to visit during our normal opening hours, and is located within the Information Area on the first floor at The London Archives.