|
One of several alternative
cover designs for the book by Studio AS. There's an even earlier
version (not by Studio AS) here...
This duotone example featured
a Phil Nicholls shot of the tea urn which used to be on the counter
at the old Remo cafe (as it was six years ago) on Weighhouse
St W1.
This was one of the first
pictures taken for the book; the others are the black and white
shots you see on the homepage.
Soon after the shoot, Remo's
was gutted and all the booth seating removed; a pattern of destruction
that would unfortunately dog all the book's principal photography.
Oddly, in August 1972,
cult US writer William
S Burroughs subjected
the Moka coffee bar to weeks of para-psychic bombardment - 'playback' - involving the making of recordings
and pictures. Eventually, it closed and was taken over by the
Queen's Snack Bar.
Thirty years on, Wild Bill's
hex induction programme seems as potent as ever: after nearly
a decade of this author photographing and archiving old London
cafes, the majority of them have gone for good.
|
