London pride: Photography with character

Proud Galleries overview

Camden has long been the king of cool, as far as London goes. From its grimy bars to hippy market stalls, Camden is a mecca for modern day alternative culture outlets, be it music, fashion or the arts.

Amy Winehouse can be found drinking in its traditional pubs, while Kate Moss lives a stone's throw away. Couple that with the fact several bands began their careers in Camden - such as Blur, which actually formed in a local pub – it is no surprise that a visual tribute to this area's culture has been established.

Proud Galleries began life as a small, private venue and thanks to a series of low-budget yet high-profile exhibitions it is fast becoming a mecca for popular culture photography.

Proud Galleries Location

Located at the Horse Hospital, Stables Market, Chalk Farm Road, Proud Galleries is not hard to get to.

Camden Town is the nearest tube station. It is on the Northern Line and runs through Kings Cross, which links up with several other major tube lines.

However, on Sundays between 13:00 BST and 17:00 BST the station becomes an exit only facility, due to the popularity of Camden Market. This means that to leave the area by tube visitors will have to walk to Mornington Crescent station or Chalk Farm.

Regular bus services running throughout central London also stop in Camden and link up with Kings Cross where visitors can get out to other parts of the city with great ease.

Why Visit Proud Galleries?

Proud Galleries attracts the coolest photographers, including works by NME's famous Roger Sargent, detailing the lives of the world's most intriguing rock stars.

It focuses on home grown stars and over the years pictures of bands such as the Libertines have become a staple of the gallery's content. It even features a picture documenting the moment when estranged band members Pete Doherty and Carl Barat were reunited after a long period of animosity.

The venue also has exhibitions dedicated to Bob Marley, James Dean and Johnny Cash. Roger Morton is currently presenting a display entitled Icons of the Seventies while Ken Russell and Topfoto present Lost London Rediscovered 1951 -1957.

Furthermore, by night the gallery doubles as a music venue where the bands adorning its clinically white walls appear in the flesh.

The result of having a venue that is also a sophisticated art gallery is that gigs tend to have a touch more class than other local alternatives and are not quite so raucous.

Alex Proud told TourDates.co.uk: "That's the way I like live music.

"I don't want to be forced to have my eardrums burst by a band that actually might be quite bad."