Walk around Shoreditch

I’d love to take you on a ‘blog photo walk’ around Shoreditch; my favourite parts of East London.

Historically a poor area, with low rents it became a hub for creatives. As can happen the art scene attracted others, prices started to rise and some have been priced out. But, to my mind, it now has a good mix of artists and creature comforts; good apartments, cafes, bars, restaurants, independent galleries and fashion stores.

I say Shoreditch, but I really mean a larger area which includes the north end of Brick Lane, Shoreditch High Street, Hoxton and Dalston.

One of the main attractions in Shoreditch is the street art. The following picture showing the girl with the apple is by the French street artist Alice Pasquini:

I was lucky enough to capture a local artist at work, the following pictures is saki & bitches:

There’s a lot of street art to be found hidden away on side streets and next to parks. Maps can be found online and some locals operate street art tours.

The character on the green wall below at eastern curve garden in Dalston and is by a famous artist called Stik, you may have seen his book:

The art below can no longer be seen now that this area has been developed into new apartments:

In addition to street art, there are a lot of galleries and studios around Shoreditch. A lot of local businesses are to do with illustration, animation, graphic design etc. If you walk around you can see into some pretty nice offices.

Myartinvest pictured below is a concept gallery where you can buy a share in artwork. Good idea if you can’t afford to buy whole artwork yourself but want to get involved.

A central point in shoreditch is the overground station. That’s where Boxpark is situated; a container complex with small stores and places to eat. It hosts a mix of smaller independent brands and larger brands trying to catch some of the creative market.

There are some quite cool places in east London, take for example Shoreditch House – a members club / hotel in a converted warehouse opposite Boxpark. The motorbike in the picture is in front of Cowshed Spa which is in Shoreditch House.

There are lot’s of good places for coffee / cake and chill out in the area. A couple that I like are Fix Coffee and Close-Up Cinema / cafe both pictured.

I don’t have pictures of all my favourite cafes and bars, but here is a list of places to check out:

– Jaguar Shoes Collective
– Attendant
– The Hoxton
– Ace Hotel
– Cream
– Barbour & Parlour
– Brick Lane Coffee
– Strongroom

It changes pretty quickly though, so expect new places to pop up and old favourites to close.

Around shoreditch and further up towards Dalston you also have vintage fashion stores and vinyl stores such as Love Vinyl and Blitz

Cafe, bar and art aside one of the best things about this part of London is the traditional architecture; warehouses and town houses that can be found around brick lane for example.

December 2016 Update – Additional Photos From 2016

Rivington street; one of the streets with a lot of art and cafes:

A household goods store with a lovely tiled exterior:

An extremely expensive chocolate shop, but with a beautiful window message:

Some more street art by Stik on Rivington street:

A beautiful sky above Boxpark:

One of the charismatic local Bar Staff at Translate:

Inside the pretty well known Cargo nightclub on Rivington Street:

Jaguar Shoes Collective; my favourite bar which doubles as an art gallery and is disguised as an import fashion store:

Do people buy their bikes to match up with local street art:

Another Boxpark pic featuring the new Routemaster bus:

The pizza often at the recently opened Homeslice. Best single slices of Pizza ever!

Boxpark during Olympic celebrations.

One of the many custom bikes you can see around Shoreditch

Recently closed; Brick Lane Coffee, was one of the well known coffee shops around Brick Lane area, but the owners now run Jonestown Coffee just around the corner (I did the photos on their website!).

That’s it for now.