A tribute to Edward Hopper. The colour of the brickwork is reminiscent of that in 'Early Sunday Morning'. The two people, barely visible, provide a sense of the loneliness of life in the city.New YorkThe sun never realised how wonderful it was until it fell onto the side of a building: ParisThe simple , elegant beauty of Japanese architecture. Straight lines and a fusion of light, air and structure, here with the perfect compliment of a man in a lilac suit at the Gallery of the Horyuji Treasures : TokyoWalking to the match. A 'Blades' supporter and an abandoned engineering works : SheffieldThe swagger, the red hoodie, the dilapidated building and a world beating event proclaimed in a typically Mancunian way : ManchesterWalking away. Photographed through the plastic sheeting of an al fresco restaurant, the image takes on the appearance of the dark shadowing of a 15th century painting : BolognaWalking alone along a narrow passageway one discovers the hidden beauty of a Roman church: RomeThe first rays of daylight illuminate 3 windows in a faceless building on a deserted street making one question whether anyone is there : TurinThat rare thing ; a single person in the turbine hall at Tate Modern : LondonShibuya style: TokyoAn inconspicuous but deeply affecting memorial on Grosse Hamburgerstrasse to the Jews who were transported from the city : BerlinWalking down 5th Avenue in July: New York CityThe plaque of the Bulgarian Embassy separates 2 men and a face : RomeGraffiti scars the splendour of the columns of the Piazza del Plebiscito, but the declaration of love , " Anna vita mia", is uplifting : NaplesA stark conflict between the comical image of half a cow protruding from a building with the stern face off the jogger: EdinburghRemembering David Slud, aged 20. No photograph can ever capture the unfathomable happenings of Auschwitz: Krakow'Forza Napoli'. Un ragazzo sits waiting in Forcella watched by Puncinello: NaplesDuring a summer rain storm a man with an umbrella stands alone on the Ponte Santa Trinita which crosses the River Arno whilst a swallow flies overhead: FlorenceOne has to search for the darker corners of the island away from the tourists , but it usually pays out on the effort one invests: VeniceThat the Berliner Dom survived the war and the subsequent occupation in the divided city is remarkable. That it stands so proudly when competing with the recent renovation of the former east speaks to its architectural splendour : BerlinIt shouldn't work. A gigantic, orange, abstract, metal shape occupies the stage in one of the city's central plazas. Yet'The Flamingo' has been accepted as the leading piece of contemporary sculpture in America's second city: ChicagoThe hoarding in place for the alteration of the old Battersea Power Station lends an Alice in Wonderland-type impression to this image: LondonA large piece of plastic sculpture somehow works in the vast atrium of the Reina Sofia Museum: Madrid" Vote or die" - graffiti with a message: New York CityAlone amidst the endless bustle of Shinjuku: Tokyo2 people crossing 12th Avenue in a bright, sunlit autumn morning, seen from the Highline: New York cityThe darkness of the carrugi in the old town, where space is tightened and compressed, maintains at all times: GenoaA true sense of the city is gained at 06.00, should one stroll through the portici which run parallel to the Arno as one travels towards the Uffizi: FlorenceA cyclist crossing at Shibuya. The mutual respect, calm and order which is necessary for a supercity to function is evident in that despite the apparently frenetic pace of Tokyo life, the distances between the cars are evenly spaced: Tokyo'Don't shoot'. Graffiti in the constantly changing area of Shoreditch where it seems everyone remains young: LondonThankfully one is now free to cross over Bernauerstrasse. The crucifix reminds us of how easily the freedom to take those routine steps can be removed: BerlinDon't follow the crowd! Washington Square Park on a Sunday afternoon: New York cityThe empty chairs of Ghetto Heroes Square remind us that the people who ought to be here are not: Krakow2 Skateboarders standing at the war memorial in Battery Park: New York CityPalermo is a city which highlights the conflict between light and shade at its best. Here two figures are enveloped within the shadows at the Quattro Canti: Palermo.Within the Tuillerie Gardens the sunlight of a December morning shines through the leafless tress as a jogger runs towards the Louvre: Paris4 joggers bring colour to the heavy greyness as a storm approaches over the Rio Tejo: LisbonThe surreal exterior of artificial red poppies and vibrant green grass of the Zaha Hadid designed MAXXI museum : RomeThough surrounded by the beauty of the pale yellow limestone interspersed with vibrantly coloured balconies, a mobile phone remains more interesting: VallettaIn 1977 an East German guard stands sentinel on Unter Den Linden: East Berlin
Simon Allen is a street photographer, having traveled to New York, Rome, London, Manchester, Bologna, Naples and Melbourne, amongst many other major world cities, representing the real wonder of the urban environment through his photography.