The pinnacle of London living: Simon Upton’s houses

Simon Upton has been photographing interiors for a good 30 years. But ask him to choose a favourite from those hundreds of shoots – for high-end glossies such as The World of Interiors, Architectural Digest, Vanity Fair and Vogue – and he scratches his head. “I think, if you pick one, you’re asking yourself, ‘What do I like most?’ This isn’t about me. And the funny thing is that what I like most is the recording process.”

His new book, London Living, explores a range of stylish homes in the city that has been his base for most of his working life. Locations range from Hackney and Spitalfields in the east, through Marylebone and Belgravia, to Notting Hill and Acton in the west. The introduction, by his friend and colleague Nicky Haslam, is amusingly acute. “Simon – long-legged with a neat head – does have the bearing and ordered mentality of an army officer. One can picture him on the Khyber Pass in pale khaki, riding into darkened chasms with, of course, only the stars as his guide.”

Upton’s subjects could loosely be described as creatives: the fashion designer Bella Freud; Maria Speake and Adam Hills, founders of the architectural salvage company Retrouvius; architect Tom Bartlett; interiors grandee John Stefanidis; antiques dealer Adam Bray; designer Jasper Conran. These very public people gave him access to their most private of spaces, resulting in images that are exquisite, vibrant and full of texture, each house illuminated by an interview in which the owner defines the true meaning, for them, of “home”.

“What unites these stories is an appreciation of other people’s style,” Upton says. “Of course, this isn’t ever going to be a representation of London per se. These are simply all stylish people. I don’t presume to have a sense of what taste is and what would be tasteful in the book. The only area where any of me comes in is selecting which images to use. And sometimes that editing process can be quite painful, because you’re losing things that you love.” 

Upton comes from a family of artists, but “I didn’t know what I would like to paint”. Instead he became a photographer, which, rather than “inventing what you imagine, what you see, is about framing it”. 

Former World of Interiors editor Rupert Thomas, with whom Upton has worked for many years, believes he has an “unrivalled ability to bring elegance to the rooms he photographs without losing any of their intensity or dynamism”. Yet Upton sees his role rather differently. “I think of nearly all my interiors as portraits,” he says – perhaps unsurprisingly, given that he has photographed big names including Jane Fonda, Jeremy Irons, Mark Rylance and Dakota Johnson. His pictures, he explains, are “trying to be reportage, a true record. I hope there are images that are challenging, and some people will get to a point in the book and say, ‘I don’t like that.’ That’s a really good thing.” 

You would imagine that spending your life photographing the world’s most fabulous interiors would engender no small amount of envy. How does Upton feel when he sees all this wonderful stuff? “I still covet things every now and then, but overall the process is made weirdly complete by recording it,” he says. “So I photograph something amazing like Jasper [Conran]’s house and feel so lucky that I just appreciate everything about it. And I can then let go of the covetousness, which makes it easier to appreciate every kind of environment you go into.”

There’s something refreshingly modest about Upton, and the way he brushes compliments aside. Praise, he feels, should be reserved for the interior designers and collectors who have spent years putting together the pieces that inhabit their domestic spaces. “Photographers come in for a couple of days, sweep through like the cavalry, and everybody goes, ‘Oh my, you did such a good job.’ You get that strange – lovely but misguided – accolade for doing something you only recorded.”

Any clues as to what’s next? Upton is discreet – as well as enthusiastic. “You never know what’s coming. But there’s no doubt that the most exciting shoot is always the next one.” 

London Living, edited by Karen Howes with photography by Simon Upton, is out now (Vendome Press, £65) 

Pictures from top: Jasper Conran’s flat, Bayswater
“I have lived in this flat for 22 years. I was drawn to its sense of space and high-ceilinged rooms. It wasn’t a wreck, but it was done up in a style that had to go. A new phase of decorating is opening up [now]. It is going to be more modern. I am coming to the party rather late!”

Emma Hawkins’s house, Notting Hill
“I have always been obsessed by the tactility of my surroundings. It took two years to bring [this house] back to life, during which time the architect and I went to great lengths to restore its historical references. There is something about Notting Hill, which is why I am back. It still has an earthly energy, [though] the edginess is missing.”

Blake and Chad Pike’s house, Chelsea
“A week after my 30th birthday, my husband, Chad, and I relocated from New York to London. I had no intention of spending more than a few years in England. Yet after a few months, I found a softer rhythm and grew to enjoy London’s more civilised pace.”

Adam Hills and Maria Speake’s flat and roof garden, Marylebone
“Adam and I moved straight into this flat, where he was brought up. In the 1970s Adam’s father designed everything – from the architecture to the carpet, the textiles, and the tiled bathroom. It was ahead of its time – David Hicks meets Barcelona Pavilion. For us the huge question was, how could we change it, and did we dare?”

Below, from left: the homes of Emma Hawkins in Notting Hill, Tom Bartlett in North Kensington, and Hubert Zandberg in Spitalfields