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Photographic History at The Bishopsgate Institute

12th December 2017/in London Photography /by Editor

The Past People and Streets of East London.

This is a sponsored article on behalf of Bishopsgate Institute.

The Bishopsgate Institute Special Collections Photography

Around the turn of the century in 1900 and afterwards, postcards became a popular and well-used form of communication for many Londoners. They depicted street scenes and iconic images of London’s buildings and environments. This postcard from 1910 shows a Liverpool Street Station unrecognisable to users of its services today.

From fledgling photographers attempting to capture the flourishing docks and shipyards of the Isle of Dogs, to the work of their contemporary counterparts, London’s East End has long provided a source of creative inspiration for those looking to capture the life of the city on film. These evocative images tell the story of the everyday Londoner, and make for a fascinating insight into the history of the city.

The Bishopsgate Institute Special Collections and Archives hold more than half a million such images, with a particular emphasis on street photography in the East End. Ranging from the 1850s onwards, these iconic and unique collections of early photography are a must-see for those looking to understand the social and cultural history of the capital and its people.

The collections were started by the Bishopsgate Institute’s second librarian, Charles W.F. Goss — a collector of the highest order — and they continue to accept images and collections to this day. You can check out a small sample of imagery from the collection below, some of which have been sourced from the most unusual of places, including a set of 1979 US tourist snaps purchased by the Library on eBay.

The Bishopsgate Institute Special Collections Photography

Between 1990 and 1991, Mark Jackson and Huw Davies decamped to Spitalfields Market to document the workings and characters of the world-famous fruit and vegetable market just as it was about to move to its current home in Hackney Wick. Their legacy of over 5,000 images are now held by the Library.

Exhibition by Alec Byrne

Written by Emily Gosling

unseen archive of photographer Alex Byrne

Lovers of Bowie, Bolan or indeed anything to do with the rich pantheon of rock and roll and the equally rich photographic imagery that accompanies it will be veritably salivating at the prospect of London Rocks.

The show at London’s Proud Central presents the unseen archive of photographer Alex Byrne, who came to prominence in the 1960s and 70s, celebrating the passion and grit of the musicians in his impressively starry sphere. He began his career under contract to shoot live acts for NME at just 17 years-old, and rather sickeningly described his then-scheduled as “The Who on Thursday, The Rolling Stones on Saturday, Led Zeppelin on Monday — just incredible’.”

Alongside celebrating Byrne’s clear photographic prowess, the exhibition looks to simultaneously explore the cultural significance of rock ’n’ roll in the 60s and 70s “swinging” London, including Bowie, The Beatles and The Rolling Stones.

Mostly shot in moody black and white – with a notable exception for the gorgeous curls and brilliant pink and yellow smiley t-shirt of Marc Bolan, the images brim with personality; each one really does appear to speak a thousand words about an unprecedentedly exciting cultural moment. “His intuitive approach was of a rock n’ roll mindset,” says the gallery, “favouring candid photography over a studio setting. Byrne’s desire to capture the most powerful imagery saw him battling to the front of crowds and racing home from performances to develop his work through the night.”

The exhibition features many previously unseen photographs, and coincides with the UK launch of Byrne’s book London Rock: The Unseen Archive, distributed by Ebury Publishing.

London Rock: The Unseen Archive by Alec Byrne runs until 28 January at Proud Central London.

unseen archive of photographer Alex Byrne

Designing your Photography Website Portfolio

11th December 2017/in Corporate Photographer London /by Editor

Post that can help direct our online portfolio design. Written by British Journal of Photography

What do photographic agents, curators, editors and commissioners look for on an online portfolio? Five industry professionals offer their perspectives.

The photography portfolio has, some might argue, been eclipsed by its digital counterpart. Offering an opportunity for almost limitless invention and innovation, mastering this mode of display involves a whole new set of challenges. From the colour scheme to layout, every element of a photographer’s website deserves careful consideration.

When designing a website, however, it is also important to carefully consider your audience. What is it that you want your online platform to say about you as an artist and how do you plan to communicate this? To help better understand what makes a compelling website, we asked five industry professionals about what they look for and why having a strong online portfolio is so important today.

What do you look for in a photographer’s website?

Diane Smyth, Digital Editor – British Journal of Photography: A website that’s both clear and easy to navigate – the design comes after. Images need to be large enough to see them properly, but small enough to load quickly. I don’t like seeing watermarks on images. It’s helpful if the images are divided into separate series, with text before each series giving a quick idea of what it’s about. I also like to have a quick bio of the photographer somewhere on the site and (obviously) details of how to contact them. It’s better to have a small number of really good images than a large volume that includes weaker shots.

Ken Flaherty, Founder – Doomed Gallery: I like to see the one image that really defines the photographer on their landing page. I also like to know the story behind a body of work. Photographers can be unwilling to express their ideas and motives in words; for the viewer, a brief explanation or critique, can help us look more and understand what we are seeing better.

John Wyatt-Clarke, Founder – Wyatt Clarke & Jones Photo Agency: I see a glaring divide between websites that are trying to achieve something and those that are just reflective of a photographer’s fascination with themselves. A good online platform should be designed to guide an ideal visitor towards a specific action, whether it be commissioning, buying work or enquiring about an exhibition. It’s also important to clearly distinguish the work that is most important to you, to give a sense of what direction you’re going in as an artist, and consequently, where you’ll be in a few years. As an agent, I’m interested in the future, and I want a website to give me an idea of that.

Fiona Shields, Head of Photography – The Guardian: At The Guardian we will always view an online portfolio before commissioning a photographer for the first time so it is important that we can gauge the range, breadth and style of imagery. I would always advise making contact details very prominent on the opening page and including your geographic location, along with your phone numbers, email address and Twitter account – I will often try all three if I’m looking to contact a photographer as a matter of urgency. This landing page is a shop window for your talents so be scrupulous over quality and keep the edit varied but tight.

How important is your first impression when looking at a photographer’s website? And would you say that this is dictated more by the nature of the work, or the way in which it is presented?

DS: I’m much more interested in the work itself, but if the website takes ages to load or I can’t find my way around it easily I’ll definitely come away with a bad impression.

Matt Martin, Co-Curator – Doomed Gallery: A bit of both. If the work doesn’t jump out at me immediately then it’s rare that I will look through the rest of the website. Good design and a strong lead image can help with this, but it’s also important that the site is easy to navigate.

JW-C: I spend a great deal of time on photographers’ websites. We get up to 50 emails a week from photographers looking for representation and consider each one carefully. First impressions aren’t that important because we’re trying to find people we can work closely with for years, so looking at their work more thoroughly is always necessary.

FS: Always check that your website can be found simply on a Google search under the name and keyword ‘photographer’, and that the website loads swiftly on desktop and mobile. Any picture editor looking to make a commission immediately, or who is considering a number of photographers, will be frustrated by a complex portfolio that can’t be accessed easily.

Should a website exist solely as a platform for the featured work, or is it important that it has a distinctive aesthetic too?

DS: I don’t have much of an opinion on this one, either one is fine by me if I can find and see the work and find contact details for the photographer. It’s sometimes nice when I come across an unusual or quirky website. But in general I’d say the aesthetic of the website should come lower down a photographer’s priority list than their work.

KF: I’m really interested in the idea of the virtual gallery as somewhere you can explore. I also really like it when photographers provide further insight into their work through the inclusion of interviews or short text.

JW-C: It’s the photos that count above everything else. An online platform can complement your photography but no site will ever be good enough to disguise poor work. Conversely, if your work is good enough, from the perspective of an agent, you can get away with bad presentation. It would be our job to help you improve your online presence. I’d advise devoting more attention to the architecture, signposting and navigation than the graphic design.

FS: Consider design and allow a slick presentation for anyone navigating their way through your portfolio. If you have particular publications you admire, or would like to attract commissions from, then it’s worth paying attention to their visual sense. Equally, if your style is aesthetically distinct then do play to this strength as it may encourage a picture editor to cast you for a specific brief.

With the digital realm becoming increasingly integral to our everyday lives, would you say that having a strong online portfolio is more important than ever?

DS: Definitely – I rarely get shown physical portfolios now, in fact it seems a bit old fashioned when I do. It’s interesting to see some of the shifts in how photographers are presenting themselves – websites used to be quite formal, presenting work projects in separate series, but on Instagram photographers tend to include more behind-the-scenes images – shots of them installing a show, for example, or photographs from their everyday life. I don’t have a preference about which is better or worse. Whichever format you use, and however you present yourself, all that really matters is that your work is online and that it includes your contact details.

MM: This boils down to the question of where are people looking at photographer’s work the most? Ultimately, I think that when it comes to photography a website is the best place to showcase your work. An online platform provides the optimum space to present images clearly and organise them to communicate any narrative running through a series. However, I do still think that it’s important to have a strong physical portfolio or book.

JW-C: I can’t imagine how anyone would get work without one. A more vital question is how do you get people to look at it? And obviously that’s where social media comes in. A site is useful as a centre for all your social media activity, a place where all these disparate platforms lead back to and where you can showcase a more comprehensive overview of your work. That’s why it’s so important to understand what you want your website to do, so you can focus all this energy in the right direction instead of dissipating it.

FS: Yes, often we are seeking to commission photographers globally who it would be difficult to meet face-to-face so an online presence is the best opportunity to review a portfolio. It is a competitive market so it’s worth spending time presenting work with consideration and keeping the portfolio up to date.

Haruka-Website Portfolio

Haruka Sakaguchi

Ursa-Premik Portfolio

Ursa Premik

John Claridge’s East End Photography

11th December 2017/in Uncategorised /by Editor

We are now posting the photography and articles that interest and inspire.

This was posted back in 2012 on the excellent Spitalfields Life featuring the remarkable images captured by John Claridge.

East End Photography by John Claridge

The window on the top right of this photograph was John Claridge’s former bedroom when he took this astonishing portrait of his neighbours in Plaistow – Mr & Mrs Jones – in 1968, on a visit home in his early twenties. Once, at the age of eight, John saw a plastic camera at an East End fun fair and knew he had to have it. And thus, in that intuitive moment of recognition, his lifelong passion for photography was born. Saving up money from his paper round in the London Docks, John bought a serious camera and recorded the world that he knew, capturing the plangent images you see here with a breathtaking clarity of vision. “Photography was a natural language,” he assured me, when I asked him about taking these pictures, “This was my life.”

“My father was a docker – everyone worked in the docks, did a bit of boxing or they were villains. My dad went to sea when he was thirteen, he did bare-knuckle boxing, he knew how to rig a ship from top to bottom, and he sold booze in the states during prohibition. I used to get up at five in the morning to talk to him before he went to work and he told me stories, that was my education. People say life was hard in the East End, but I found the living was easy and I loved it.”

With admirable self-assurance, John left school at fifteen and informed West Ham Labour Exchange of his chosen career. They sent him up to the McCann-Erickson advertising agency in the West End where he immediately acquired employment in the photographic department. Then, at seventeen years old, John bravely travelled from Plaistow to Hampstead to knock on the door of Bill Brandt to present one of his prints, and the legendary photographer invited him in, recognising his precocious talent and offering encouragement to the young man.

“I used to meet my mum after work in the Roman Rd where she was a machinist, and you couldn’t see the next street in the fog,” John recalled, when I enquired about the distinctive quality of light in these atmospheric images. At the age of nineteen, John left the East End for good and at the same time opened his first studio near St Paul’s Cathedral. It was the precursor an heroic career in photography which has seen John working at the top of his profession for decades, yet he still carries a deep affection for these eloquent haunting pictures that set him on his way. “My East End’s gone, it doesn’t exist anymore,” he admitted to me frankly with unsentimental discernment, “These are pictures I could never do again, I don’t have that naivety and innocence anymore, but seeing them now is like looking at an old friend.”

East End Photography by John Claridge