Pedlars, Poseurs and Performers

'Pedlars, Poseurs and Performers, My Portobello Road' is an exhibition of photographs covering fifty years of the life and soul of London’s Portobello Road. No better place to share this collection than Portobello Road itself. This exhibition is a compelling insight into the world of the Portobello Street market, which go beyond the stalls, shops and cafés normally associated with it.

Brian Jaquest started his photographic career in the 1960s as a tea boy and messenger for a busy London studio. He was given the opportunity to work in the darkroom and eventually assisted one of the photographers. Finally he was allocated his own space and clients, shooting fashion both in the studio and on location. After a few years’ experience he went freelance, sharing a space in Hampstead. Then in 1970 he moved into his own studio in Portobello Road, West London and has lived and worked there ever since, mostly on commissions for advertising agencies as a still-life photographer.

'Pedlars, Poseurs and Performers' is an in-depth photographic history which takes viewers into the ticking heart of the Portobello Road. Brian's photography has also been published in a book of the same title and his hardbacks are available to purchase.

"It was 1972 when I set up my photography studio in a derelict coach house and stables, ironically called Folly Mews, behind a pair of broken down old gates in Portobello Road. Between repairing holes in the roof and the floors and a career in photography I became enthralled by the vibrant and what seemed hectic life outside the gates and thought this was a story waiting to be told.I began to take portraits of the people – trying to capture the spirit of this intimate bubble of activity, sometimes out on the street but often, when not working on advertising commissions, inviting them into my studio, away from their usual busy environment.

The backbone of the Portobello Road market, a daily event through all these past fifty years, has been the families of costermongers, many of whom have become friends and have shared their stories with me, and who for generations have made a living from their market stalls. During this time I witnessed the Saturday market in particular become a magnet for thousands of tourists who come to rub shoulders with the hustling, bustling array of pedlars, poseurs and performers. But there are no rules here. We see pedlars posing, performers peddling and poseurs performing. Who can decide which is which? My Portobello Road introduces many of these wonderful characters and their unique place in the history of London." Brian Jaquest, 2025