Milan's Lonely Streets sales-toys-games has stood over the Thames

has stood over the Thames River since 1894 and is one of London's best-known landmarks

And that is why the confidence game is both the oldest there is and the last one that will still be standing when all other professions have faded away

the El is neither a scourge upon the city nor a touchstone for nostalgia

“The past is a map

Milan's Lonely Streets sales-toys-games has stood over the ThamesThis stark image of the Navigli area of Milan is part of a collection of photos of once bustling locations that were rendered deserted by the global health crisis of 2020. Despite the emptiness or because of it, the locations took on a haunting beauty captured in The Times article, The Great Empty. During the height of the coronavirus outbreak in March 2020, The Times sent dozens of photographers out to take images of popular public plazas, beaches,