Herbert William Palliser

Herbert William Palliser’s photographs feel like postcards from a stranger who never stamped them. He shot London’s back alleys in the 1890s, when gaslight still flickered between gasometers and laundry strung fire-escapes. A full moon over the Thames in one untitled plate sits so still you can hear the water lap against the piers. His pictures belong in Gallery Tiles because you can step straight into “London at night, 1893” and almost smell the coal dust—one click, and you’re there.