Museum of London, Know London by The Unmistakables

As dawn broke this Christmas morning, many of us will have been tending to excited, early-rising children or anxiously working out how long it would take to cook the turkey.

One Londoner started his day very differently, though.

Mohamed Mohamed, a British-Somali poet and football coach from south London, began shooting a short film depicting London’s unusually empty streets from sunrise.

The film 'Know London', commissioned by the Museum of London, depicts Mohamed’s annual journey as he cycles through central London.

Beginning in Clapham and set to Mohamed’s own original poetry, the film peacefully meanders through typically crowded sites including Battersea Bridge, King’s Road, Hyde Park Corner, Piccadilly Circus, Trafalgar Square and Westminster.

The film puts an unseen city on display at the only time of the year which the Museum of London is closed. The film, which celebrates London’s rich diversity, will be shared through the museum’s social media accounts around Christmas Day.

Mohamed only had the opportunity to learn to cycle in his twenties. That was when he embarked on his first annual Christmas morning ride across the capital in 2010, making a big impact from his bike immediately. Photographs he shot that morning captured the imagination of thousands of social media followers, who were keen to share images of London as they had never seen it before.