New London club photography project to raise funds for NTIA

A London club photography project titled Let Us Dance has been launched to raise awareness of the impact COVID-19 has had on the nightlife industry, and to help raise funds for the Night Time Industries Association.

Photographers and Khroma Collective co-founders Jake Davis & Rob Jones joined together during lockdown to document over 40 of London’s most iconic nightclubs and venues, which have largely remained shuttered since March 2020 due to coronavirus.

Shot on medium format film, and taking the project’s name from the #LetUsDance campaign, Davis and Jones cycled around the capital to take photos of clubs at the time they’d normally be opening their doors for a weekend of punters, and have produced prints of clubs across the capital to raise funds for the NTIA.

“At this time of night, the streets outside would have once been bustling with life as people waited in anticipation to get onto their favourite dance-floors,” Davis and Jones said. “With the recent announcement of nightclubs being able to open their doors once more, these images serve as a reminder of this anticipation and the positive memories that we all associate with these spaces.”

The prints, which feature a host of London institutes including fabric, XOYO, The Cause, E1, Tobacco Dock, Phonox, 93 Feet East and Corsica Studios, are now on sale for £30 each, with 40% of all proceeds going directly to the NTIA.

You can purchase the prints via Khroma Collective here.

In November last year, the Night Time Industries Assocation warned that, despite government funding throughout lockdown, the financial provisions made available for the night time economy were substantially less than the required operating costs. Michael Kill, the CEO of the NTIA, said that ‘evidence suggests that 85% of those who work in the night-time economy are considering leaving the sector. The sector urgently needs additional clarity on reopening and critical financial support from the Chancellor if we are to avoid economic and social damage that will last a generation.’ 

In February, MPs were warned that UK nightlife faces “extinction” without immediate government action, after a survey of over 20,000 night time economy businesses, workers and consumers were asked to share experiences and opinions on the huge problems currently faced by the sector amid the pandemic.