Clive Boursnell's photo-essay documents the end of an era and stands as a memorial to a vanished part of London life. - Ham & High
My heart sank at first. Oh god, not another picture book about a picturesque corner of London, especially over-hyped Covent Garden. Then it leapt right back up. How wrong I was. Very rapidly I became absolutely absorbed. Now I am recommending it effusively to anyone who will listen. This is not only a fascinating book, it is an act of photographic salvage and a very valuable historic record. - Design Week
What is remarkable about his photographs is that the routine acts of life - the shouting, the smoking, the errands and conversations of the market traders and their customers - are revealed as being full of grace, drama, humour and surprise, as though the Covent Garden street market were a stage and its occupants all actors, orators and dancers. - Times
The beautiful collection of 300 photos is stunning just on a visual level, but it also celebrates the tight-knit community of Covent Garden, and stands as an archive of a vibrant part of London's history. - Times
I can recall no other volume that has had such a powerful Proustian effect on me as the new book Covent Garden by Clive Boursnell. I worked on the fringe of the market for some of this period. From the moment I opened the book, I was hurtled - whoosh! - back across the decades. My head filled with the smell - a mixture of ancient cabbage, fresh salad, Players No. 6 and diesel exhaust - of the Piazza. - Independent Magazine
Email to a colleague