Wonderful Photographs of Notting Hill in 1971

Notting Hill in 1971

During 1971, John de Prey, who took these photographs, stayed for a few months with his friend Marcus in Powis Square in Notting Hill. The same location where in the summer of that year Lemmy Kilminster made his debut as a bass player for Hawkwind during a free open air concert and where, three years previously in 1968 Donald Cammell and Nicholas Roeg filmed many of the exterior shots of their cult film Performance at number 25 on the corner of Talbot Road.

De Prey wrote of his visits to Notting Hill:

I’d been a frequent visitor in 1969 and 1970. I could see the area was changing fast, and that Notting HIll of the sixties was disappearing, so the day before I left to live in Greenwich, I took the camera for a walk. I wish I had done more. I was very fortunate to have had one foot in Brighton where I was a student and enjoyed the incredible music scene, and Notting Hill that I felt was somehow riding the crest of a wave.

You can see more of de Prey’s photographs at his Flickr site.

Notting Hill in 1971

Notting Hill in 1971

William Blake grafitti on a wall on Basing Street, 1971.

Forbidden Fruit at 295 Portobello Road

These photographs of Notting Hill are with kind permission of John (Serious and Unabashed) and are from his wonderful Flickr site.

Would you like to support Flashbak?

Please consider making a donation to our site. We don't want to rely on ads to bring you the best of visual culture. You can also support us by signing up to our Mailing List. And you can also follow us on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. For great art and culture delivered to your door, visit our shop.