Eternal London, published by Dewi Lewis, is Giacomo Brunelli’s second book. You can tell that he is not from London – he takes pictures of the obvious but makes them look strange. In fact, he was born in Italy and has exhibited and won awards all over the world.  

 

The London represented in Eternal London is a strange place, full of shadows and rainy reflections. It’s a mysterious city of people and animals, but only the pigeons and dogs stay still long enough to be seen properly.  The men and women rush by, without enough time to stop and look at their own city.  You catch glimpses of their hats, umbrellas and shoes as they rush past in the rain and gloom. In the background, you can see blurs of familiar landmarks - St Paul’s Cathedral, Tower Bridge and Big Ben. The pictures could have been taken 100 years ago or they could have been taken yesterday. 

 

In one of the photographs, there is a silhouette of a dog jumping into the River Thames under a bridge. You can almost hear it barking as it chases a stick. In the background, you can see the four towers of Battersea Power Station. In another a pigeon struts gracefully in Trafalgar Square. St Martin-in-the-Fields is a blur in the background, but no people are visible. A third picture shows a man’s shoes in close up, as he strides away down a narrow street.