Simon Wheatley

Described as one of the most influential UK photographers of the 21st century, Simon Wheatley emerged as an authoritative chronicler of London’s youth culture with the publication of ‘Don’t Call Me Urban! The Time of Grime’ in 2010. Hailed as a classic upon its release, the book was used as the visual template for the first series of the popular TV show ‘Top Boy’ and although primarily a work of social documentary photography, it has become an iconic reference in the realm of street fashion. Clint419, the founder of the Corteiz label, acknowledges the book as the inspiration for his brand and by contributing the foreword to the new 2025 edition he rubber stamps the book’s subcultural status.

In a video collaboration with Leica for the relaunch of their M6 camera in 2022, Simon stated that for him photography does not really exist in the physical sphere, that it is always a reflection or projection of something else. His books, with their overriding sense of narrative, reveal that story-telling is his principle objective and his other publications are similarly socio-political in their essence: ’Lost Dreams’ was a more detailed off-shoot of his work with grime, which went specifically into the role East London youth clubs played in the emergence of the genre while highlighting their absence after over a decade of Tory austerity; ‘Silverlink’, while ostensibly a collection of pictures of a train line running across the north London suburbs was actually a reflection of the Blair years, honing in on New Labour’s failure to keep their promise to repeal rail privatisation, while ‘Always and Forever there’ focused on the French banlieue, portraying the institutionalised marginalisation of immigrant youth in a small town.

Simon served 6 years as photographer-in-residence at Abbey Road Studios and continues to be part of the family with his role as guest judge on the subcultural category for the Music Photography Awards.

Guest Category Judge for the Underground Scenes category.

Follow Simon:
simonwheatley.studio
instagram.com/simonwheatleyphoto

Photographed: Crazy Titch and friend
Photographed: Roll Deep
Photographed: Fumin