John Claridge and William Gedney

It might be that the world seems to be recently discovering some previously little-known archives of 1960s-era photography because the photographers are now older and making efforts to push their work out into the world; or perhaps it's just that we now have enough perspective on this time period that it is acquiring historical distance sufficient to allow our interest; or it might be simply that I like photography from that time period, and that explains why I'm paying attention to it.

William Gedney, Teenage Boy Rolling a Cigarette, 1964

Two photographers of that period have crossed my wake in recent days. One is William Gedney, who died in 1989 and whose work was the subject of a now-unattainable book that I thought we recommended here on TOP although I can't find any mention of it now. He made two trips to Kentucky spanning only 29 days, in 1964 and 1972, and the work he did there is now part of a comprehensive online archive of his life's work that includes more than 5,000 pictures.

William Gedney, Vivian Cornett Fixing Daughter's Hair, 1964

William Gedney's Kentucky work is the subject of a series of posts by Roger May at Walk Your Camera—an easier way in than diving directly into the unedited archive (although I'm not sure I entirely agree with Roger's picture editing—then again, there's the big Duke University archive if you want to make your own choices). Here are the Walk Your Camera links:

Looking at Appalachia | William Gedney—Part One
Looking at Appalachia | William Gedney—Part Two
Looking at Appalachia | William Gedney—Part Three

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John Claridge, no title given, 1963

Vanishing London
The East End of London has been much discussed of late because run-down parts of it received a makeover for the Olympics venues. This is not firsthand knowledge on my part, but apparently the term "East End," denoting an area which appears to be more or less in the middle of present-day London, refers to an area just east of the original Medieval walled city. Traditionally it was poor and overcrowded (the Salvation Army was founded there, after an epidemic worsened already bad conditions), and apparently parts of it were improved by being wiped away in favor of temporary sporting facilities.

John Claridge, Accordion player, Spitalfields, 1970

The gentle author of a small blog called Spitalfields Life has been mining the early work of a photographer named John Claridge, who came up from the East End to become successful in advertising. His pictures of the East End were taken between 1959 and 1982, many of them when he was no more than a boy.

Here are the posts:

A Nation of Shopkeepers by John Claridge
John Claridge’s East End
Along the Thames with John Claridge
At the Salvation Army with John Claridge
In a Lonely Place
A Few Diversions by John Claridge
This was my Landscape
John Claridge’s Spent Moments
Signs, Posters, Typography & Graphics
Working People & a Dog
Invasion of the Monoliths
Time Out with John Claridge
Views from a Dinghy by John Claridge
People on the Street & a Cat
In Another World with John Claridge
A Few Pints with John Claridge

Great fun. I've been enjoying making my way through these.

Mike
(Thanks to Howard French and Ian Goodrick)

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Original contents copyright 2012 by Michael C. Johnston and/or the bylined author. All Rights Reserved.

Featured Comment by Patrick Medd: "At last, my favourite photographer on my favourite photography website! I've been chasing after John Claridge's work since I first read a magazine feature on him 20 years ago. One of those rare photographers whose monochrome and colour work is equally compelling (to me). Indeed the colour photographs shouldn't work; pictoralist in many ways, heavily filtered, diffused...but he's not afraid to let large parts of his pictures render as pure black, and his use of this aesthetic appears magical to me. Check out his series of portraits taken at 'The French'—a pub in Soho, which are on his website."

Featured Comment by Tim Auger: "The East End has suffered two phases of comprehensive urban planning: one was implemented by the Luftwaffe, and the second by postwar planners and architects building stained-concrete housing fit for the masses, but which they themselves wouldn't be seen dead in (and which the masses don't like much either). It was called 'slum clearance.' And traffic management schemes. A lot of the old stuff's gone. The East End's a lot better than it was 10–20 years ago, but the intimate texture of urban life that you see in these pictures is pretty lacking now. Except in some of the recent concentrations of ethnic minorities maybe, which do have a good atmosphere."

Featured Comment by Cliff: "For more of Gedney see Shorpy." 

Mike replies: Ah, that's where I'd seen his work before. Thanks, Cliff.

Featured Comment by Roger May: "Thanks very much for mentioning/linking to my series on William Gedney. Admittedly, I'm no photo editor. I could've easily posted hundreds of images, but only requested permission to use less than fifty. It's my hope that more folks learn about Gedney's work and share it with others. Again, thank you!"

Mike replies: 'Tis I who should thank you, Roger!

Comments

[Gavin McLelland]

Mike

A lot of British cities have "east ends" as the prevailing winds blow from west to east the "noxious" trades tended to be on that side of the city and with them the poor.
The east end of London has been marked by immigration as well as poverty. A majority of the cities docks were in the east end and many immigrants didn't get much further than a few streets from the quayside.
Most of the immigrant communities have moved on to be replaced by those from the latest troubled part of the world.
Parts of my family lived there a hundred and fifty years ago but now the streets they lived on have gone vanished under bombs and development. It's a strange place to visit for me, some of the atmosphere of John Claridge's photos can still be found but round the corner a giant glass tower or box sits like some invader from the future

Gavin

[Bill Poole]

Mike - Thanks so much for the link to the Gedney images. They're honest and full of feeling without seeming deliberately artful or straining for drama. I knew the one from the book cover, which has been widely republished, but had not seen most of the others. The comparison with Walker Evans seems inevitable. But these photos seem more sensual--beautiful in a different way, if you will. Thanks again.

[Joseph Reid]

Claridge is a new name to me and I look forward to digging into those posts. The NYTimes Lens blog featured some of Gedney's pictures in January and that led me to the Duke archive. The thing that strikes me about his best pictures is that they capture a particular type of decisive moment -- a moment of exquisite human gestures. Look at the hands and postures in these pictures. There's a breathtaking gentleness and delicacy to these gestures which makes me wonder, were they unique to the groups he photographed? Or did he see these everywhere while they escape most of us?

[Jack Martin]

Oh, I'm pretty sure you recommended it somewhere. How else would I have known to buy it :) (at one of those pop-up remainder shops that set up in vacant retail space, no less)

[Dragos B]

Thank you, Howard! Thank you, Ian! Thank you, Mike!

[Rod Purcell]

Hi Mike,

I'm guessing other people may have posted this link, but the following leads to John Claridge's website. He was an influential figure in British photography. Not really famous like David Bailey, but someone who pushed what photography could be. Many years ago I bought a copy of his limited edition of One Hundred Photographs, which really challenged to me to stop taking snaps and try some real photography. Good to see his early work being promoted.

http://www.johnclaridgephotographer.com/index.html

[Andrea]

A bit harsh; a few of the east-end base venues are temporary but most like the Velodrome and the main stadium are permanent.
All the same, great links to wonderful images.

[Ed]

Amazing, time capsule stuff. I grew up in Manchester in the 60s, much of my childhood environment looked like this. On the same site be sure to check out the work of a woman photographer, Daniele Lamarche http://spitalfieldslife.com/2012/08/16/daniele-lamarches-east-end/

[Andre]

London's not the only place where neighborhoods have been wiped out for an Olympic complex. I was in Beijing earlier this year on business and an employee of the local office took me to Beijing's Olympic park during the weekend. On the one hand he was proud of the massive complex, but on the other didn't like the way it had been done. Apparently the government razed a huge number of older neighborhoods to build the complex (unlike London they didn't make much use of existing facilities, most everything was built from scratch in one location) and the compensation given to those affected was not enough buy them similar replacement housing elsewhere in the city.

Photography content: I have no good images of the Olympic complex itself because of the (in)famous Beijing smog. I ended up trying (mostly unsuccessfully) to make the smog a feature of the photos -- i.e. showing how distant objects disappeared into the muck. One couldn't even look across the interior of the Bird's Nest stadium without having the haze wash out the colors and detail of the seats on the opposite side.

[robert p]

@Andrea: The main stadium was actually specifically designed and built to be deconstructable. The only permanant bit of it is a 25,000 seater arena at the base, which I think is concrete. The rest is all bolted together (not welded) with the idea that it can be taken down and reconstructed somewhere else. It remains to be seen what will happen with it - there have been negotiations for various football clubs to take it over, which seem to have foundered, but I think all of these proposals were to involve redesign of the stadium to take out the running track around the pitch. As far as I know the Velodrome is staying and in a year or two will become the HQ of British cycling. I believe that the Aquatics centre will have the main seating areas taken away to leave a smaller [and more beautiful) venue. I think the copper box is staying as well. How the "legacy" ends up remains to be seen and is subject of much debate here. Hopefully all will be well, though it will likely require a similar amount of time and effort as staging the Olympics in the first place.

John Claridge is living somewhere in France I believe, and when in London he can often be found in The French House on Dean Street, where he will tell you all about his top secret new method of printing he has been working on, the details of which I forget. Charming chap.

rdp

[Edward Taylor]

(Somewhat off topic)

OK.

1. I admit this may be a stupid comment that will annoy some people.
2. I love B&W photography from the sixties. I did it for a living back then.
3. I love the film look.
4. However, from the first time I used a digital capture device (about 1990), I felt that digital imaging had major advantages over film.
5. Whether looking at these photos (particular those from 1963) or looking at other 60's photos like those of the Kennedy's taken with the best cameras and by the best photographers, I am amazed at what we considered "good" quality in terms of the technical aspects of the medium.
6. You can reminisce about film all you want, but at least with regard to 35mm, can you imagine the reviews if even a point and shoot digital camera took photos of such poor technical quality today? I know many prefer the artistic appeal of film and detest the "video" look, but really, - we are so much better off with the tools we have today.

I'll add that I firmly believe that technical quality rarely has anything to do with artistic merit or meaningful photography.

[John Krumm]

Great stuff, thanks. I suppose "East End" can become a generic term. We have our area in Juneau half way between downtown and the valley where you can find some light industry, the dump, salvage yards, the prison, the halfway house, two trailer parks, and the highest concentration of registered sex offenders. Lots of bald eagles too.

[mikegj]

Great stuff.

After looking at a few of the Claridge pages, I was struck by how many of the photos (particularly the "street") shots lean a few degrees to the right.

Full frame "contacts", viewfinder errors, the result of snap chest/hip shooting? It had me wondering all through the rest of the pages. Yes, there are a few that lean left, as well.

[Tom Mosier]

Mike~

I read TOP every day -- I like your articles and sense of humor -- even though most days we are on completely different pages photographically.

Your article on Gedney's Appalachian photos is great. But I think you might be interested in another Appalachian photographer (one who has lived his whole life there).

I was working in the area in 1964 and 1965 when Earl Carter joined the staff at the Times News in Kingsport, Tennessee. I went to Miami, Earl stayed.

These were Earl's people and he photographed them with uncommon grace and simplicity, often returning from time to time to see how they were doing.

For one such story, see this link: http://earlcarter.com/?page_id=42

Now semi-retired, Earl has a Kickstarter project to publish a book of his Eastern Tennessee/Western Virginia photos. I have had the privilege to see and comment on the layouts and I think they are outstanding.

You can see more of his recent work on his photo blog at: southernvisions.net/

PS Earl is distantly related to June Carter Cash, though the exact lineage is somewhat murky. They have become quite good friends over the years as Earl has spent numerous hours photographing at the Carter Family Fold in nearby Virginia. Some of those shots of the early Fold are included in the book.

[Bill Mitchell]

Thank you, Mike, for reminding me of the work of Bill Gedney -- somehow, in my senility, I'd managed to forget all about him.
I've always thought that picture of the kid rolling a smoke should be paired with another perfect image: Bruce Davidson's Girl with a kitten on a London street.
They just don't make 'em like that no more.

[Tom Burke]

The East End of London: historically, London ended at the Tower - everything eastwards of there was 'not London'. Also historically London's shipping moored in the Thames, just downstream of London Bridge. As London grew as a port so docks had to be built, downstream (I.e. to the east of 'London proper'), and by the early 20th century these constituted the largest dock complex in the world. With the docks themselves came huge amounts of poor quality housing, to accommodate the required workers - hundreds of thousands of them. This was the East End, from the early nineteenth century onwards. Dock labour was brutal work, of course, always badly paid and always subject to corruption and oppression. Even in the 1960s London's docks were as big as any other (non-oil) port in the world. Unbelievably, in just 25 years they all closed down. The impossible happened: London ceased to be a port. Poverty in the East End, always bad, got even worse with the end of local employment. Basically, the best solution that anyone could come up with was wholesale redevelopment on very favourable terms, from the mid 80s onwards. The only people who didn't make a quick buck were the Eastenders themselves.

John Claridge's pictures captures London's docklands in their dying years, very evocatively.

[Bill Mitchell]

Okay, so I bought the Gedney book, which I should have done a year ago and saved myself a bundle. I'm just sorry that it can't help him since he died young over 20 years ago (AIDS?).
I got it through your link in the article -- will it count on your account?

[David]

Hi Mike
John Claridge is also one of the most creative advertising photographers of the last 40 years and was a great advocate of GAF 500.
Is recent work also shows is creative mind is still very active.
David

[Steve Jacob]

Great admirer of Claridge, who pushed a lot of boundaries in his colour work as well.

But I wonder if a lot of the "fun" in this genre is not just their documentary nature but the insight into places that are only slightly familiar?

Looking at Gedney's photos was a link to a fond memory, albeit 25 years on, and another 24 years has passed since.

I worked in Raleigh NC for a couple of years and took a few trips to the Blue Ridge. However I took a few days off for one trip and bored with the Parkway I ventured west down some little highways into rural Tennessee and then up to Kentucky.

In the early fall, the countryside was like a rural eden. Hard to live somewhere so serene and get the hump about much, and I guess that's why the hospitality was wonderful everywhere I stopped to pass the time. Having a strange accent probably helped, especially in the local diner near the last hotel I over-nighted in. I was in Winchester Kentucky and my home town in the UK was Winchester!

Five days of long drives and long walks and getting utterly lost. Bliss! Except that my Canon AE1 shutter jammed on day 1 and I have no photos to show for it.

[Jens Marott]

John Claridge is a photographer who has been round the block so many times, he's one of the most natural photographers still alive.
His series from the East End is the most honest images I have seen for a very long time, they show how it was and holds a value that is disappearing within photography, this is the real stuff, no nonsense, and if you have a look around, you will not find anything like it, this is a one off in terms of a story from real life.
I find John Claridge's images facinating, to me he is the photographer who never followed the rules always pushing for more, and therefore, for me at least he is a master of photography.
Thank you for making me aware of his East End series.

[Alice Neal]

John Claridge has photographed pretty much every subject matter in every country and he is about as good as they get. With the recent pulication of his East End pictures through Spittalfields Life, we have been given a rare and precious glimpse of an incredible archive of work which spans more than 50 years. Just think of the treasures we are yet to see! The images have an incredible quality that fit so well into both fine art photography and photojournalism. We all know how important it is to document our environments in this ever changing world and John's images give us an amazing insight into Londons recent history that is already gone but thanks to John, never forgotten.

[Cindy Salmon]

Hi Mike

I was so excited to discover your inclusion of John Claridge’s work, although not the household name that Bailey has become, John is very much the photographers photographer. His passion and seriousness for his beloved photography from such an early age has gifted us a wonderful legacy. Displaying a sense of reality and emotion both in his personal and professional work.
I would urge all those who are not familiar with Johns work to get ‘Googling’. I guarantee it will inspire you to blow the dust off your lens and get shooting again!

Cindy.

[David Drakes]

If you want to see how Charles Dickens a century later would have chronicled visually the decline of the British/London East End Empire then look no further than the inspirational John Claridge photographic imagery back in the 1960s and 1970s (his Spitalfields Collection) . . . no wonder such youthful precociousness developed into one of the world's finest photographers!

[Eamonn Gearon]

I have known Claridge for many years now, and can attest to his being a gentleman as well as an artist.

The juxtaposition of his urban work with Gedney's Appalachian images on this website is especially welcome.

Odd to think that while Claridge's East End of London is for me, of such tender years, born in 1970, a record of an almost foreign past although in the country of my birth, known largely through cinema as much as photography, the shots of Kentucky look startlingly familiar, the result of my spending a few months there in the early 1990s.

Thank you for the website. Keep up the good work.

Eamonn Gearon.

[Rob]

The power of digital editing makes lens choice much less critical than it once was. It is now possible to correct distortion, deconvolute blurriness, adjust global and local contrast and tweak white balance and saturation--all with relative ease. In so doing, a mediocre lens can magically seem like a stellar one. I have recently been re-working some old photos taken with a 10MP camera and an average quality zoom lens. Using the latest editing software (and improved skills on my part,) the results are very impressive indeed. If I told people that the photos were shot with Zeiss lenses, few would find reason to doubt it.