Bruce Gilden - The Empire On Which the Sun Never Sets

Bruce Gilden’s new book is a raw, unflinching portrait of England seen through the eyes of one of street photography’s most daring practitioners. From Liverpool’s football terraces to the troubled corners of King’s Cross, from surreal nights in Newcastle to bruising encounters in Welsh mining towns, Gilden captures the tension, humour, and unease of everyday life with his signature intensity.

Inspired initially by Tony Ray-Jones’ A Day Off, Gilden set out to explore England not through its postcard views, but through its grit, its danger, and its people on the edge. His stories are as vivid as his pictures; being forced out of Anfield by police on his birthday, dodging pickpockets, navigating drug-fueled confrontations, stumbling upon a faded boxing legend, and witnessing chaos in working men’s clubs.

This is not a romantic England. It’s a place where photographing often wasn’t safe, where street smarts were as essential as the camera itself. Gilden’s lens turns voyeurism into confrontation, exposing the surreal theatre of public life, moments both violent and tender, absurd and unsettling.

The result is a book that sits between documentary and personal diary: a jagged, unforgettable journey into England’s shadows, where danger and humanity collide in every frame.

Hardback with gold dust jacket
300 x 230 mm
108 pages
54 images
In a limited edition of 750 copies