Historically, Soho is known for its association with lewd behaviour. The spiritual home of drunks, romantics and sex workers, Soho’s narrow clandestine alleyways have been spaces of sexual encounter for centuries.
That is until the introduction of the 1959 Street Act, which moved such activity indoors and into the clubs. As a way of advertising these establishments, neon signs began to be introduced to Soho. The Soho Illuminations collection documents these infamous, iconic neons, and in doing so preserves the essence of a vanishing cityscape.
