The aim of this paper is to consider the role played by the three zones of the street, pavement, gutter and carriageway, in the work of W. P. Frith. Through its consideration of these particular urban spaces this paper interrogates the extent to which the artist utilized these spaces as a visual means to confirm social position through spatial placement.
Having established a theoretical basis for this argument, referencing the work of Michel Foucault and the more recent work of Rob Shields and John Urry, this paper presents, as visual evidence, a series of London street scenes produced by Frith between 1858 and 1888, in which Frith's organization of class and type across the three spaces of the street conforms to established patterns of connotation associated with these spatial zones. In tandem with the visual evidence, reference is also made to contemporary text, in which this pattern of connotation is also evident, confirming the role played by the street as a disciplinary space within which class and type can be distributed as a means to confirm social order.