When I found this book I knew I had found something special. The title intrigued me, and I was hoping the inside matched what it spelled out on the cover… it was exactly that and I wasn’t disappointed. Luke Stephenson’s wonderful book 99x99s is filled with, yes you’ve guessed it, 99 photos of 99s. For those who don’t know what 99s are, they are a specific type of ice cream delight, where the ice cream is silky soft, served on top of a crisp wafer cone and topped with a chocolate flake (and sometimes juice and bits!).

For most people the 99s bring back fond memories of childhood, trips to the seaside and for me, wondering why the 99s didn’t cost 99p, because that’s why they were called that right?!

During the summer of 2013 British photographer Luke Stephenson embarked on a road trip around the UK, photographing this great British food icon, and documenting how each seaside town or city translated this ice cold treat. The result are brilliant, with each 99 different to the next, the soft ice-cream is peaked and swirled in it’s traditional way, and the flake is precariously balanced at an angle we all recognise.

For me this perfectly illustrates what a unique country we have and it’s these little details that makes this country ours.

www.lukestephenson.com
www.99x99s.com