When I started this project, cycling wasn’t the ubiquitous fashion statement it is today. Although the starting project was bicycles, the project’s focus was London and its people. The subjects chose the locations; this way, the setting hopefully acts as an extension of their personalities, or at least, gives an insight into their characters.
Text: Marcus Ross
Photography: Marcus Ross
I love this shot. Ryan got in touch about being part of the project but it took us ages to get together. I arrived a bit late and he had already applied most of his make-up. As a performer, he’s such a natural in front of the camera – this is the first frame!
This was shot at Columbia Road Market, London. It ended up being an unseasonably warm day so the street was packed. Sam had just bought some blue flowers. We went round the corner and I saw the blue shop front. The shop front and the retro look of the cobbles I thought really complimented his bike.
Jason used to be a model and is one of the most genuinely cool people I know. He has his own style and is always perfectly turned out. He bought this beautiful Pashley and added his own touches such as the Japanese calligraphy on the wheel cover. I love it when people personalise their bikes.
This is shot at a lovely café, Leila’s, near Arnold Circus, London. It’s one of those great places with regulars who come and have a chat. While we were there we probably spent more time chatting to the people who dropped in than thinking about the shot. The bike is a limited edition wooden Dahon, Hon solo with beautiful finishing. As you can imagine Jess doesn’t ride it much, it’s almost an object of desire to her.
This is my wife. She is Deputy Editor of Icon Magazine and is shot outside the only building in London, designed by the famous German architect Walter Gropius. She’s Swedish and the bike is a classic Swedish ladies town bike.
They chose Hackney Farm as their location, which I thought was just brilliant. Davo’s bike is 70 years old and belonged to his grandfather, as was the leather jacket he was wearing.
A lot of serious cyclists build their own bikes, adding what they need to found frames. Sara-Jane is one of those cool, cute girls with a great character. She’s modelled for Paul Smith amongst lots of other exciting things. It’s rare that we get snow in London like we did on the day of the shoot – I made Sara-Jane throw bread around so all the swans came flocking into the frame.
Robert belongs to a group of writers, stylists, photographers and musicians that influenced me when I first started buying my own clothes and reading style magazines. I met him through a friend of mine and knew that he was into cycling so was delighted that he agreed to be part of this project. I was pleasantly surprised to find out that he owned a bike built by the same person that built mine, a Chas Roberts, one of those great independent bike builders. Like a lot of keen cyclists, Robert does laps around the Outer Circle of Regent’s Park so we decided to shoot the image along that route.
Benedict is an artist, famous for his engineering feats, creating life size cars out of metal. He also made the bike in this photo, which was on sale at Two Columbia Road; he is a fanatical fixed-wheel biker.
Anna is a cool, and mature young bike enthusiast. She races bikes and she can do all sorts of tricks on her BMX. She also teaches young children to ride safely and to enjoy cycling and she has her own range of clothing for girls to wear on their bikes. A very industrious and positive young lady!
