I have been recently working on a building project near Shoreditch in East London and every so often I need to visit the site. It just so happens that the location of the site is next door to Brick Lane, which is one of those places which has become incredibly trendy over the last decade.

Originally, in the 16th century, Huguenot silk weavers fleeing religious persecution in France made it their home. Later on it became a center for the Jewish rag trade. Then, throughout the last few decades it has been a major center for the Bangladeshi Muslim community. There are countless curry houses, for which the area is now famed for. I noticed that nearly every restaurant seemed to have 'voted best restaurant 2010' or other such posters in their windows...  I guess there is a lot of competition.

In the last ten years or so, the area has evolved again into a trendy clubbing zone, arts and crafts, weekend market area for the usual trendy crowds. Many DJ record stores, vintage clothes shops, bric-a-brac stalls, world food outlets, and general coolness is found there every weekend. There is also a continuously changing street art, ranging from grafitti to sculptures. It really is worth a visit, especially with a camera. I noticed many photographers wandering around with the same idea. While they were mostly using DSLRs and iphone cameras, I worked with my Ricoh GRD3.




I will post some more from Brick Lane in the future...  and a revisit is a must.  Brick lane looks good, smells good and sounds good.