Tracey Thorne

London Calling: Tart Cards 

Selected images from the series (2021- 2022)

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During the lockdown, I spent several days exploring telephone boxes across London, particularly in areas where Tart Cards have historically been displayed since the 1980s. These cards, once ubiquitous, advertised the services of sex workers and became a significant, albeit controversial, part of London’s visual landscape from the mid-80s to the 90s. Over the last decade, as telephone boxes were decommissioned and authorities intensified their efforts to erase illicit advertising, these cards have almost entirely vanished from the streets.

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For me, photographing these remnants was crucial. The ephemeral nature of Tart Cards, coupled with the authorities’ determined erasure of this visual culture, it highlights the importance of documenting them. These images are not just photographs—they are a preservation of a disappearing piece of British sex work history, a visual record of a culture that once thrived but is now being systematically wiped away.

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The series, 'London Calling,' provided space to explore closley the fading world of Tart Cards. The exploration captures these fragments as they are—diminishing, fragile, yet still present—in the form of worn-out cards, paper, and vinyl stickers clinging to the interiors of telephone boxes. My work aimed to document and preserve a fleeting moment in London’s cultural history before it disappears entirely.

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Selected images from the series are available in a limited edition photozine available here and a PDF can be purchased and downloaded via Blurb