Classic Cafes

Often dismissed as ‘greasy spoons’, classic cafes are actually little gems of British vernacular high street commercial design. Here the last remaining enclaves – originally vilified in the 1950s for their embodiment “of corrupt brightness, of improper appeals and moral evasions… a sort of spiritual dry rot amid the odour of boiled milk” – are extensively reviewed, revealed and reappraised. For 50s Britain, cafes once represented a European dynamism that added much needed colour to Britain’s post-war social, artistic and commercial scene. However, by the late 1970s their original spirit had been extinguished and throughout the 80s and 90s they fell into disuse – despised and forgotten. Today these classic cafes retain a quintessential, poignant quality of lost English drabness and a ‘contemporary’ utilitarian minimalist aesthetic that marks them out as icons of design. Through the celebrated images of Phil Nicholls and the enthusiasm and attention to detail of Adrian Maddox the classic cafe is here explored in all its glorious detail. The layout of Classic Cafes has been influenced by 50s design, typography and style to reflect the subject matter.

"Classic Cafes features the art-print pictures of Phil Nicholls. Best known for his work at Melody Maker during the 90's, his portraits of hundreds of rock celebrities - from Kurt Cobain to Courtney Love - set the standard for the music press of the time. He has worked with many major record labels and his pictures have appeared in Blitz, Vogue, Uncut and numerous broadsheets. A major retrospective of his work was held at Belgium's national Botanique centre in 2001 to extensive European acclaim."

Adrian Maddox

text from pre-publication press release