John Claridge’s French House Portraits

Click here to book tickets for The Gentle Author’s Tour Today’s Bastille Day celebrations at The French House, Dean St (1-5pm) are dedicated to the memory of photographer John Claridge who was a long-term regular at this beloved Soho institution where many of his pictures are displayed. “I started taking portraits of people at The French House in the seventies when I took a picture of Gaston Berlemont. Then, while taking Spike Milligan’s portrait, we got to talking about Soho. At the time, I was living in Frith St, so Ronnie Scott’s and The French were both very familiar to us and, even then, both of us voiced our sadness at changes we saw – lovely delicatessens, independent restaurants and specialists shops closing down, all of which had been there for years. In 2004, I decided to document the customers at The French in earnest. For me, it was the one place in Soho that still held its Bohemian character, where people truly chose to share time and conversation, and I became aware that…