London based lovers and fetishists The London Vagabond have been making work collaboratively for around four years under this alias.

The London Vagabond brings together two separate perspectives: a submissive male point of view that's removed from the typically misogynistic male gaze, and a dominant female view, advocating for female empowerment.

In this latest “Lives from the Archives”, where we chat to people whose stories are included in our archives, we caught up with the two founders of The London Vagabond, whose collection is part of the UK Leather and Fetish Archive.

What can be discovered in your archive?

Every publication we have ever released as well as some prints. We intend on donating a whole load more including handwritten stories of our personal exploits and letters between us from when one half of us was incarcerated. (Romance is not dead!)

We hold all of your wonderful publications – how did your archives end up at Bishopsgate Institute?

We had been admiring the archives from afar, and we were approached by a friend who was donating some of their personal photos – we came along with them to visit the archives and we totally fell in love.

The archive is now very supportive of our work!

Why did you choose the Institute as a home for your archive?

We chose the Institute as a home for our work because its curator (Special Collections and Archives Manager Stef Dickers) really cares about kink and fetish, so we feel that our work is safe and appreciated down in the depths of the archives. We couldn't think of a better home!

If someone came to look at your archive, what would you hope they'd learn/enjoy?

We hope they enjoy the work and they don't leave the pages sticky...

The images The London Vagabond take focus on honesty and presenting the subjects of the images as they truly are.

The two founders of the group both have a background in photography, with the male half being a self-taught analogue photographer. His work often submits to voyeuristic tendencies and the desire to document the everyday to the obscure.

Though his recent public work has focused on nudity and fetishisms, he also continues to shoot the overlooked, the avoided, and the people that society purposefully likes to ignore.

The female half has had moving image work in galleries including The ICA and The World Museum. Her work similarly stems from a desire to document her surroundings, and she has a strong interest in the relationship between sound and image and how they inform one another.

You can discover their collections here.