citylikeyou — London / Louisa Bailey

Louisa is the founder of Luminous Books in East London, an artist curated bookshop specializing in second hand fiction, philosophy, art and curiosities. Luminous also stocks a range of artists’ books, limited run zines and hosts regular literary events, combining music, films and readings alongside pop up projects throughout the city and two Luminous collections at the ICA Bookshop SW1 and Andor Bureau E8. Louisa studied Fine Art Sculpture at Brighton University before moving to London working in both new and antiquarian bookshops including Foyles and as Book Buyer for the ICA Bookshop. Luminous is a specialized bookshop full of personal preoccupations, a love of the object of the book, printed matter and of visual thinking.

http://www.luminousbooks.co.uk

Creative Director

Current city: London

luminousbooks.co.uk

London / Place

These giant spectral cylinders are great at different times of the day but my favourite time is around dusk when the buildings in the city start to light up. The Gherkin and the new Shard building are framed in the lowest ring then the shifting colours of the sky are almost split in the following ellipses.

London / Museum

A walled secret garden, the Physic Garden is like a time capsule, founded in 1673 to allow apprentices of the Worshipful Society of Apothecaries of London to study the healing properties of plants, it is now a living museum. Tours are offered by volunteers with immense knowledge of botany and the cultural history of the garden or visitors can wander the grounds alone and spot odd and fascinating plants such as the mystical Mandrake.

London / Cinema

Truly independent and informed programming twinned with a beautiful Art Deco façade makes the Rio a genuinely unique and unpretentious cinema. A stalwart of Kingsland High Street the Rio’s single screen shows new releases, classic and quirky Sunday double bills and hosts special events and film festivals.

London / Shop

Inspired by Dave Eggers’ projects in the USA such as the Pirate Store in San Francisco and Superhero store in Brooklyn, The Monster Supplies Store in Hoxton is home to the Ministry of Stories: A volunteer run organization, founded by Nick Hornby, to help young people with creative writing of all kinds through workshops and free mentoring sessions. The store is the “Purveyor of quality goods for monsters of every kind” with fascinating bottles and tins containing everything from eyeballs to Zadie Smith’s short story Mortal Terror.

London / Architect

After years of casually being Ask The Hoff to friends and friends of friends I decided to share my knowledge and discoveries of London and beyond.

London / Photographer

Alys is a photographer based in north London. Her work has been included in over twenty international exhibitions, most recently at the Rencontres d'Arles in France and Somerset House, London. She was named Sony World Photographer of the Year 2018 for her series 'Ex-Voto' and the work was published by GOST Books in 2019.

London / Visual Artist

Omani-Bahraini visual artist based in London.

London / Photographer

Caroline Gervay is half-French, half-Vietnamese and based in London where she graduated from Westminster University with a BA (Hons) in Photographic Arts in 2010. Her work explores the boundaries of imagination generated by human struggles. She has lived in France and Spain and now works as a freelancer and specialises in analogue processes.

London / Film Director

Milène Larsson is an award-winning, seasoned international news, current affairs and documentary producer/director/reporter covering issues spanning from the environment, gender norms, women’s social status and civil rights, to culture, travel and migration, which she has reported on extensively in the British Media Awards winning documentary series Europe or Die. She’s currently co-Head of Video for VICE and based in London.

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