The Independent Shoe-Black
£25.99Price
London's shoe-blacks mostly belonged to uniformed brigades, the 'blues' and the 'reds', but this lad had been in both and walked out to work for himself. Going independent was tough. Without a licence a policeman could kick you off the pavement, and a licence cost five shillings a year and could take about twelve months to come through. He was planning to go to sea, partly to take some pressure off his mother, who was nursing his invalid father. John Thomson photographed him in 1877 for Street Life in London.
• Paper thickness: 10.3 mil
• Paper weight: 189 g/m²
• Opacity: 94%
• ISO brightness: 104%
• Paper is sourced from Japan
