I’ve cycled past this laundrette on my way to and from work for over 14 years but this is the first time I’ve ever set foot inside. It’s something I wanted to photograph for a long time because it seems like the sort of place that will probably get knocked down and turned into a Tesco Metro any minute but either I never got around to it or there always seemed to be a car parked out front. The car hasn’t been there for a while so I finally made a point of braving the evening winter temperatures to make a trip to photograph it.
The washing machines aren’t as retro looking as I had hoped, they’ve probably been replaced in recent years but I do like the wood panels on the walls and ceiling which look very 70’s.
Tech info: Mamiya RZ67 with Kodak Tri-X film, processed in Ilford DDX for 8mins at 20C.
Laundrette interior
Washing machine operating instructions. I like the hand written painted sign.
Laundrette exterior. The traffic was bumper to bumper so I had to wave my arms to stop the traffic long enough for the 2 second exposure.
I’ve found that laundromats are surprisingly photogenic! I like the second and third images best of this set. I’m impressed you went out in front of cars to stop traffic! Also, I kind of wish that the second photo didn’t have the paper notice on the right – without it, the image looks very retro 🙂 (NB Alana likes the paper notice in there to break up the symmetry)