When John Thomson returned to London following his work in China and Southeast Asia he collaborated with journalist Adolphe Smith on a series of articles that were published in 1876 and 1877 as monthly installments under the title Street Life in London. The Woodburytype process was used to print high quality copies of the documentary photographs by John Thomson. It is the combination of the short articles, often based on interviews with the people portrayed, and the visual evidence that makes this work one of the outstanding series of nineteenth century social documentary photography showing the condition of the urban poor. The articles were published together in the book Street Life in London, (London: Sampson Low, Marston, Searle and Rivington).