After a decade of travelling and living in Africa and then Paris, Ian Berry conceived of The English as a project that would enable him to both document and rediscover the country in which he was born and grew up: “It seemed like a good idea to do something on the English before my eyes got too jaded.” Returning to London in the mid 1960s, he became the first contract photographer for The Observer newspaper. His images capture the unique character of the city of London and the diversity of its residents, both well-established and recently arrived.