A new photography project is capturing the final chapter of London's historic Smithfield Market, documenting the butchers, porters, and traders who have worked through the night to feed the capital for more than eight centuries. Photographer Orlando Gili's series, titled "The Last Butchers of Smithfield Night Market," offers an intimate look at this vanishing world as the market prepares to close its doors in 2028.
Smithfield Market has been at the center of London's meat trade since 1133, operating continuously on the same site where the city's working rhythms and appetites have converged in the quiet hours before dawn. However, this ancient institution is facing its end, with closure scheduled for 2028. The market's planned relocation to Dagenham has become uncertain following the collapse of a joint move with Billingsgate Market.
Over the past four years, with his most recent photographs taken in September, Gili has gained intimate access to the market's nocturnal operations. His images reveal the stark poetry of this unique environment, featuring blood-slick floors, Victorian corridors that echo with the whine of machinery, and the strong camaraderie that binds together those who work while the rest of the city sleeps.
"I first arrived in Smithfield long after the last pub had closed," Gili recalls about his initial experience. "Minutes later I was deep inside the bowels of the market in white overalls, photographing blood-splattered butchers and dodging lines of dead animals hanging from hooks. It was an intoxicating, visceral experience. To experience Smithfield's night market was to uncover a veiled world that operated in the shadows."
Gili, who has a particular interest in exploring British identity through his camera work, created this project as both a study of urban change and portraits of a dying breed of workers. His photographs reveal the dignity and cost of night work, showing the physical toll it takes on workers while also capturing the strange beauty and sense of belonging that persist even as London continues to transform around them.
"It felt prescient to capture this community, and the authentic part of traditional London it represents, before it was too late," Gili explains about his motivation for the project. The photographer sees his work as documenting not just individual workers, but an entire way of life that has sustained London for generations.
As Smithfield Market approaches its final chapter, Gili's project raises important questions about what is lost when a city's working-class heritage gives way to the sterile appearance of modern redevelopment. The work serves as a meditation on urban transformation and the human cost of progress, preserving the memory of a community that has operated in London's shadows for centuries.
The project also poses broader questions about London's future character and identity. "It poses the question of whether London is in danger of becoming too bland and homogenized, making it harder to distinguish from other global cities," Gili adds, suggesting that the loss of Smithfield represents more than just the end of a market – it symbolizes the potential loss of London's unique character and working-class heritage.
