Soho in London is a place of interactions and moments. While much of the dirt and sex has been cleaned up, chain restaurants have crept in and media companies stalk the streets, it remains at the heart of London’s eccentricities and self-expression.

In his photographs of Soho,  Swedish photographer Anders Petersen has imbued the area with what he describes as “a kind of poetic sadness”.  Night-time clinches accentuated through high-contrast tones and grainy black and white, mutes the colour of Soho and allows the imagination to recreate the area.

At the request of the Photographer’s Gallery, Petersen took his images in just over three weeks in 2011, beginning in March, when it was “too cold at night” and returned in June, when “it was the perfect mix of shop light and sunlight”.

Anders Petersen’s SOHO is available from mackbooks.co.uk

Tags: Anders Petersen, Mack Books, soho