Businessmen in skirts and chaotic branding

City bankers in skirts might not be quite what you expect on the morning commute, but they’re the subject of a series of photographs in a new exhibition.

Bucklersbury EC4
Bucklersbury EC4

After studying passers by – hence the exhibition’s title, In Passing – photographer Franck Allais thought the moneymen of the City of London were the blandest men on earth. So he went about subverting expectations, presenting city workers dressed in drab suits from the waist up, but in skirts and high heels below.

Lloyd's Avenue EC3
Lloyd’s Avenue EC3

The self-taught French photographer says,‘We overlook the everyday but if we stop for a minute it can be quite interesting. I like to question people’s perceptions of objects whose role and function are so often taken for granted.’

London Bridge EC4
London Bridge EC4

Alongside, Allais presents a series of his photographs under the name of The Weight of Worlds, which use brand imagery superimposed on scenes of chaos and traffic to suggest that there’s always someone trying to sell us something.

Fresh made for you
Fresh made for you

Instead of seeing vans and trucks, I saw words floating by like a visual dialogue, messages bombarding my brain that were instantly forgotten. I realised I had hit on something both playful and disturbing,’ he says.

General building service
General building service

In Passing runs from 8 – 28 February at the KK Outlet, 42 Hoxton Square, London, N1

Fries from the land
Fries from the land
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