Ralf Obergfell Photography





Last Stop Routemasters


London: 2004-2008

..It is almost bus porn.. (Robert Elms, BBC Radio London)

..Critics Choice.. (Time Out London)

I was twelve or thirteen years old when I first saw a Routemaster. It was on TV at my parents house in Staufen, a small town on the edge of the Black Forest, where I grew up.

I got hit by the striking bright red, the powerful design with its friendly looking round curves, the open platform with the chrome pole located in its centre, and the fact that the bus was still conducter operated.

To me, the Routemaster conveyed a sense of original London street furniture, a classic piece of art and technology that was loved and valued by Londoners and visitors alike. After all the Routemaster presented a sense of communal spirit that just made it fun to ride on.

  • Last Stop Routemasters


 | Welcome

    Last Stop Routemasters | Welcome


  • Last Stop Routemasters


 | Capacity

    Last Stop Routemasters | Capacity


  • Last Stop Routemasters


 | RM1

    Last Stop Routemasters | RM1


  • Last Stop Routemasters


 | London

    Last Stop Routemasters | London


  • Last Stop Routemasters


 | Four in a Row

    Last Stop Routemasters | Four in a Row


  • Last Stop Routemasters


 | Eye

    Last Stop Routemasters | Eye


  • Last Stop Routemasters


 | Face

    Last Stop Routemasters | Face


  • Last Stop Routemasters


 | London Eye

    Last Stop Routemasters | London Eye


  • Last Stop Routemasters


 | Son of the Mask

    Last Stop Routemasters | Son of the Mask


  • Last Stop Routemasters


 | Solid Machine

    Last Stop Routemasters | Solid Machine


  • Last Stop Routemasters


 | Leather Seat

    Last Stop Routemasters | Leather Seat


  • Last Stop Routemasters


 | 4-Seats

    Last Stop Routemasters | 4-Seats


  • Last Stop Routemasters


 | Driver Cab

    Last Stop Routemasters | Driver Cab


  • Last Stop Routemasters


 | Empty Upper Deck 01

    Last Stop Routemasters | Empty Upper Deck 01


  • Last Stop Routemasters


 | Laughing

    Last Stop Routemasters | Laughing


  • Last Stop Routemasters


 | Oyster Card

    Last Stop Routemasters | Oyster Card


  • Last Stop Routemasters


 | Bell Cord

    Last Stop Routemasters | Bell Cord


  • Last Stop Routemasters


 | Ha!

    Last Stop Routemasters | Ha!


  • Last Stop Routemasters


 | The Bush Babe

    Last Stop Routemasters | The Bush Babe


  • Last Stop Routemasters


 | Dreaming

    Last Stop Routemasters | Dreaming


  • Last Stop Routemasters


 | Feet

    Last Stop Routemasters | Feet


  • Last Stop Routemasters


 | Priority Seats

    Last Stop Routemasters | Priority Seats


  • Last Stop Routemasters


 | Changing the Ad

    Last Stop Routemasters | Changing the Ad


  • Last Stop Routemasters


 | Petrol Pump

    Last Stop Routemasters | Petrol Pump


  • Last Stop Routemasters


 | Filling Up

    Last Stop Routemasters | Filling Up


  • Last Stop Routemasters


 | Phil

    Last Stop Routemasters | Phil


  • Last Stop Routemasters


 | Kwado Manson

    Last Stop Routemasters | Kwado Manson


  • Last Stop Routemasters


 | Platform Light

    Last Stop Routemasters | Platform Light


  • Last Stop Routemasters


 | Centre Point

    Last Stop Routemasters | Centre Point


  • Last Stop Routemasters


 | Mamma Mia

    Last Stop Routemasters | Mamma Mia






  • Book


    Breedon Books Publishing (UK): 2008

    Special thanks to Arriva (Peter John Batty), David Azurdia, Travis Elborough, Jet, Ben Walters.

    Words: Ben Walters

    A design classic and an international symbol of London, the Routemaster bus became a landmark in itself, a global icon you could ride to work.

    Designed in 1954 by the London Transport Engineering Manager, Colin Curtis, and introduced in 1956, the Routemaster (RM) was a fixture of the capital's streets for half a century before its withdrawal from regular service at the end of 2005 - a decision that outraged thousands of the bus's admirers in Britain and around the world. This was no mere item of public transport, they insisted, but a living part of the city, worthy of appreciation, loyalty, even affection.

    Drawn from hundreds of images gathered over the Routemaster's final year of service, "Last Stop Routemasters" is not an exercise in protest, or even nostalgia, but a celebration of the unique and dynamic role the bus played in London life.

    These vibrant, witty and iconic photographs were mostly taken on the 19 and 38 routes, running from Finsbury Park in the north and Hackney in the east through the heart of the West End and on to Knightsbridge and Chelsea.

    They pay tribute to the bus' warm, weighty yet elegant design features, the spontaneous social interactions catalysed by its trusty conductors and the ever-changing conversation between inside and outside space allowed by its open back.

    In in these fluid, organic elements - all absent from the buses that have replaced it - that Obergfell finds the Routemaster's soul.

  • Last Stop Routemasters


 | Cover

    Last Stop Routemasters | Cover


  • Last Stop Routemasters


 | Welcome & Foreword by TRAVIS ELBOROUGH

    Last Stop Routemasters | Welcome & Foreword by TRAVIS ELBOROUGH


  • Last Stop Routemasters


 | Anthony Harris & Phil Geraghty

    Last Stop Routemasters | Anthony Harris & Phil Geraghty


  • Last Stop Routemasters


 | Vauxhall Bridge (2000) & Victoria Station

    Last Stop Routemasters | Vauxhall Bridge (2000) & Victoria Station


  • Last Stop Routemasters


 | London

    Last Stop Routemasters | London


  • Last Stop Routemasters


 | 785019 & Superior Crew

    Last Stop Routemasters | 785019 & Superior Crew


  • Last Stop Routemasters


 | 38

    Last Stop Routemasters | 38


  • Last Stop Routemasters


 | Intro

    Last Stop Routemasters | Intro


  • Last Stop Routemasters


 | Depot

    Last Stop Routemasters | Depot


  • Last Stop Routemasters


 | En Route

    Last Stop Routemasters | En Route


  • Last Stop Routemasters


 | Aboard

    Last Stop Routemasters | Aboard


  • Last Stop Routemasters


 | Last Stop

    Last Stop Routemasters | Last Stop






  • Exhibition


    London Transport Museum: 2008

    Last Stop Routemasters at London Transport Museum was my first solo exhibition.

    Special thanks to Oliver Green, Wendy Neville, Zimena Percival, Michael Walton, Claire Williams.

  • Last Stop Routemasters


 | Installation 01

    Last Stop Routemasters | Installation 01


  • Last Stop Routemasters


 | Installation 02

    Last Stop Routemasters | Installation 02


  • Last Stop Routemasters


 | Installation 03

    Last Stop Routemasters | Installation 03


  • Last Stop Routemasters


 | Installation 04

    Last Stop Routemasters | Installation 04


  • Last Stop Routemasters


 | Installation 05

    Last Stop Routemasters | Installation 05


  • Last Stop Routemasters


 | Installation 06

    Last Stop Routemasters | Installation 06


  • Last Stop Routemasters


 | Installation 07

    Last Stop Routemasters | Installation 07


  • Last Stop Routemasters


 | Installation 08

    Last Stop Routemasters | Installation 08


  • Last Stop Routemasters


 | Installation 09

    Last Stop Routemasters | Installation 09


  • Last Stop Routemasters


 | Installation 10

    Last Stop Routemasters | Installation 10


  • Last Stop Routemasters


 | Installation 11

    Last Stop Routemasters | Installation 11


  • Last Stop Routemasters


 | Installation 12

    Last Stop Routemasters | Installation 12


  • Last Stop Routemasters


 | Installation 13

    Last Stop Routemasters | Installation 13


  • Last Stop Routemasters


 | Installation 14

    Last Stop Routemasters | Installation 14


  • Last Stop Routemasters


 | Installation 15

    Last Stop Routemasters | Installation 15


  • Last Stop Routemasters


 | Installation 16

    Last Stop Routemasters | Installation 16


  • Last Stop Routemasters


 | Installation 17

    Last Stop Routemasters | Installation 17


  • Last Stop Routemasters


 | Installation 18

    Last Stop Routemasters | Installation 18


  • Last Stop Routemasters


 | Installation 19

    Last Stop Routemasters | Installation 19


  • Last Stop Routemasters


 | Installation 20

    Last Stop Routemasters | Installation 20


  • Last Stop Routemasters


 | Installation 21

    Last Stop Routemasters | Installation 21


  • Last Stop Routemasters


 | Installation 22

    Last Stop Routemasters | Installation 22


  • Last Stop Routemasters


 | Installation 23

    Last Stop Routemasters | Installation 23


  • Last Stop Routemasters


 | Installation 24

    Last Stop Routemasters | Installation 24


  • Last Stop Routemasters


 | Installation 25

    Last Stop Routemasters | Installation 25


  • Last Stop Routemasters


 | Installation 26

    Last Stop Routemasters | Installation 26


  • Last Stop Routemasters


 | Installation 27

    Last Stop Routemasters | Installation 27


  • Last Stop Routemasters


 | Installation 28

    Last Stop Routemasters | Installation 28


  • Last Stop Routemasters


 | Installation 29

    Last Stop Routemasters | Installation 29


  • Last Stop Routemasters


 | Installation 30

    Last Stop Routemasters | Installation 30


  • Last Stop Routemasters


 | Installation 31

    Last Stop Routemasters | Installation 31


  • Last Stop Routemasters


 | Installation 32

    Last Stop Routemasters | Installation 32






  • Interview


    BBC Radio London (Robert Elms Show): 2008

    ..It is almost bus porn.. (Robert Elms, BBC Radio London)


  • Last Stop Routemasters | Last Stop Routemaster - Interview BBC London Radio