A new photography book is not so much eye-opening, as eye-narrowing.
Even if you've got your reading glasses on, you'll be squinting at photographer Simon Roberts' latest tome, After London. The book, created by the well-regarded photographer who was an official artist for 2024's General Election, features many landmarks that are well-etched into the Londoner's psyche: from the graceful dome of St Paul's Cathedral to the hunched gaucheness of the Walkie-Talkie.
But here's the rub — or rather the thing that'll have you rubbing your eyes: all 52 of these photographs are out of focus.
Did something go awry at the printers?
Of course not. Part-paean to the great impressionists — Whistler, Turner, Monet — who rendered the capital in bleary ethereality, After London takes its name from Richard Jefferies' 1885 novel, in which a natural catastrophe drowns the city and plunges its denizens into a barbaric future.
This is why, as well as lacking focus, Roberts' photos are devoid of people. "The works gathered here are shaped by that same unease," explains Roberts. "Each portrays a faintly recognisable London scene, yet is emptied of human presence – vistas suspended in a strange hush, where landmarks appear unstable, submerged, or already slipping back into the embrace of nature.
"In an age saturated with endlessly reproduced images of the capital — its skyline reduced to visual shorthand for Britain itself — this work seeks to resist cliché."
Do you feel moved and compelled by this dystopian framing of London, or would you rather flick through a day's worth of photos taken by a hasty tourist who hasn't yet mastered their phone camera settings?
That all depends on your viewpoint — fuzzy though it may be.
After London by Simon Roberts, published by Hoxton Mini Press, 15 January 2026.
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All images © Simon Roberts.
