Collage : The London Picture Archive

Collage: The London Picture Archive offers access to a wealth of photographs, prints, drawings and posters from London, available via an interactive map showing the locations that they depict.  This database of pictures not only includes images of famous landmarks, but ordinary streets and residential buildings that are no longer in existence.

Managed by London Metropolitan Archives (LMA), it provides free online access to over 250,000 images of London from the collections at LMA and Guildhall Art Gallery.  The whole of Greater London is covered, as are the adjoining counties, and the images provide an extraordinary record of London and its people from the fifteenth century to the present day. Some of the many highlights include photographs of Victorian London; the sixteenth century ‘Agas’ map of London; Hollar’s stunning panorama from 1647; beautifully designed twentieth century posters for London’s tramways; the Cross and Tibbs photographs of Second World War damage to the City of London and the collections formerly held at the Guildhall Print Room.

The site regularly adds new content from the LMA collections - they estimate that there are around 2 million photos, prints, drawings and maps in their strong rooms. So, if you can’t find what you’re looking, check back soon!