David Gray's pictures of the week 29-1-2007

DAVID GRAY photography
	C A F F S A N D C A F E S
	P I C T U R E S O F T H E W E E K 2 9 - 1 - 2 0 0 7

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There's been a lot of comment recently about the amazing growth of coffee shops. If you stand in London's Regent Street, apparently, you now have 166 branches of Starbucks within a five-mile radius. That chain only opened its first outlet here in 1998, but has been so successful it is annually adding 50 new prime locations where you can drink its over-priced and insipid lattes. People must like these places, though the demographics suggest they are not visited by either the poor or the old. The trouble is that the rise of Starbucks (and the other corporate coffee chains) means the closure of old-fashioned cafes that have for years served their local communities less glamorously but much cheaper. This week's picture set focuses on the disappearing world of caffs and cafes. They are about life not lifestyle and I suppose, sadly, that's why they are doomed.

Harry's Place in Norwich covered market in October 2003 (image 2453-31)

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