What Britain Looked Like To The World's Most Iconic Photographers

Do you ever stop in your own familiar stretch of Britain, blink and momentarily see it through an outsider's eyes? At the age of 18, I stood atop Waterloo Bridge and swallowed the view whole; I had just moved back to the city from a provincial town and this, for me, was the new centre of the universe.

I soon began to take that view for granted, but now, each time I return, I can't help but see it again as though it were the very first time. I imagine what it must be like to see it with fresh eyes.

I experienced the same feeling looking at the photographs from the Barbican's latest exhibition 'Strange and Familiar'. Curated by acclaimed British photographer Martin Parr, the show consists of international photographers' portraits of Britain – and in doing so marries familiar scenes with an outsider's unique perspective.

The photographers featured in the exhibition include Robert Frank, Henri Cartier-Bresson and Evelyn Hofer, and span the last 75 years of British history. Here, we preview some of their works from the show, and wonder if you'll find them as inexplicably nostalgic as we do.

For more information on the exhibition visit the Barbican website here.

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