'Where Do You Go?' with photographer and Soho denizen, Darren Russell
The co-author of Some Kinda Soho gives us his personal guide to the area
Welcome to your free Monday edition of London in Bits. LiB is an independent publication that is only made possible through paid subscriptions. As a paid subscriber you get access to three full issues a week including all the arts and food news in Saturday’s Weekend Roundup.
Use the button below to take advantage of our discount for existing readers:
If you would prefer to make a one-off payment directly, or if you don’t have funds right now but still wish to subscribe, send us an email and we’ll sort something out.
Every now and again we like to ask people for their personal take on London. We get them to tell us the places that they turn to for different reasons: the spots that excite them, inspire them, make them feel calm, happy or just make them want to spend money. We call it ‘Where do you go?’.
This week it’s the turn of photographer, Darren Russell. Darren, along with co-author David Saunders, has just published Some Kind'a Soho: The Voices of Disappearing Soho, a gorgeous book that sets out to capture and celebrate some of area’s iconic characters through interviews and images.
Darren and David (both well known Soho characters themselves) have managed to coax out incredible anecdotes and personal histories from everyone from restaurant owners and tattoo artists to antiques dealers and sex workers, all accompanied by Darren’s portraits set in iconic Soho locations.
So, of course, we wanted to ask the man himself for a few tips and recommendations…
Who are you?
Darren Russell. I was born in Edmonton, North London, and I’m a photographer. I’m creative, but I’m not an artist. What you see is what you get. I enjoy meeting people from all walks of life and countries and photographing them. I’m lucky I do a job I love.
And why should we trust you?
My father says “Trust is earned, not given”. I trust my father.
What was the original incentive for writing this book? It feels like it’s more than a trip down memory lane.
The incentive for this book was to capture the voices of people who live, work and play in Soho before they disappear, which is why it says on the front cover “The voices of disappearing Soho”. It’s not so much a trip down memory lane, although we do ask questions about people’s pasts, and they all have a story to tell. But we also ask questions about the places they like now and how Covid and lockdown affected them.
How did you go about collating the stories? Did you draw up a wish list and then set out to interview people?
It wasn’t hard to speak to the people as David has lived in Soho for over 40 years and knows or has contacts with all the people in the book. We decided that we were going to ask 10 questions to 30 people but ended up with 32 in the end. There was no criteria for the people in the book. David or others would say “I know this person and they're interesting, so let’s talk to them”.
Who were the people you knew you had to speak to, the characters without whom the book wouldn’t be complete?
I think we knew we had to talk to a wide variety of people with as many different backgrounds as possible, because that’s what Soho is all about. We knew we had to talk to people like Linda Bee, the shop owner, who was born and brought up in Soho and Lesley Lewis the landlady of the French House pub, because she is running a business in Soho right now.
How do you feel Soho coped with lockdown? Are you optimistic for the future of the area?
I think Soho coped as well as anywhere in London, Britain and the world. It lost people and businesses, but then new people and businesses came in and started up. I think there have been some major mistakes made in the name of redevelopment, but Soho will bounce back. It will adopt and adapt. It won’t be the same Soho I knew, but it will be someone else’s Soho.
On to the usual questions… Where do you go to have a great time?
The 100 Club on Oxford Street. I’ve been going there since I was 15 and I’ve lost count of the bands I’ve watched and taken photos of in the club. I’m lucky to call Jeff and Ruby Horton, who own and run the club, friends as well as Big John and all the staff there.
Where do you go and always end up spending too much money?
Little Italy on Frith St, I always end up having that extra bottle of wine and sharing it with Antony the owner and passing friends.
Where do you go that can never close down, because if it does you might cry?
Bar Bruno Cafe on Wardour Street (above), one of the last working men’s cafes in Soho. Fantastic no-nonsense breakfasts and the omelettes are spot on. The fresco on the walls downstairs is brilliant, a little known gem.
Where do you go to cheer yourself up?
Any cinema in London. From the little arthouse ones to the big chains, it doesn’t matter. If I can immerse myself for a couple of hours in a film I’m happy. I recently watched the new Bond film at the Odeon Tottenham Court Road, the locations in that film have to be seen on the big screen, they were visually phenomenal.
Where do you go to be alone?
Russell Square Park (above). I’ll have a stroll or a coffee in the cafe and gather my thoughts and take some time to just people watch.
Where do you go to impress someone?
Trisha’s Bar on Greek St, one of the last dive bars in Soho. Doesn’t matter who or what you are, you all get the same service from Trish.
Where do you go when you can afford it?
The Ivy Cafe, 96 Marylebone Lane (above). You get what you pay for and you get top notch food and service here. The decor is fantastic. It’s pricey but worth every penny.
Where do you go if you want to feel comfortable?
Soho!
You can follow Some Kind’a Soho on Twitter here and you can buy the book here.
If you know of anyone that you think would make a good interview for our ‘Where do you go?’ series then let us know on Londoninbits@gmail.com
And the rest..
You don’t have to be Sherlock Holmes to know that a lot of the stuff sold in the “souvenir and sweet shops” on Oxford Street are dodgy knockoffs. But, just to confirm all our worst fears, the Met staged a “pre-Christmas raid” on Oxford Street last week, and confiscated more than 17,500 items from four shops including “unsafe toys, counterfeit clothing, and incorrectly-labelled nicotine products.”
Sky’s Andy Hughes went to Tottenham to investigate why the area has had so many gang-related murders this year. The resulting 15 minute film is pretty eye-opening:
Jennifer Arcuri has said that she’s going to hand over her diaries (documenting her affair with Boris Johnson, who was mayor at the time) to the Greater London Authority ethics watchdog and has agreed to be questioned for the first time by investigators.
Odious far-right journalist and presidential wannabe, Eric Zemmour crawled into London this week, only to find his event at the Royal Institution cancelled and no senior politicians wanting to be seen dead with him. Although Politico reports that he did manage to have “several lunches and dinners with up to 20 potential donors each time.”
