Four decades of urban change in London's East End: a comprehensive retrospective of the British photographer's documentation work since the 1980s.
Chris Dorley Brown is a self-taught documentary photographer based in Stratford, East London. His cultural education was formed in East London in the late 1970s, against a backdrop of highly polarized political conflict and change.
The photographs presented in this book - over 100 - were taken between 1984 and 2023. The journey through the book is like taking a stroll: starting on the banks of the Thames, we discover the vernacular architecture of the 1980s; their demolition a few years later; followed by more recent architecture. We witness the transformations brought about by construction for the Olympic Games; then, the deserted streets during lockdown; ending on the banks of the Thames, almost at its mouth. One-offs, here and there, intersperse these main themes.
Texts and leaflets are included in the book. The author recounts his career with a certain ease that is reminiscent to us, his publishers, of his oratorical skills: the depictions are very visual, and anecdotes are related side-by-side with his most profound thoughts. This photographic work is given the scope it deserves in the book, revealing the history of the East End. It is also, and above all, a depiction of how capitalism and development took on new forms as it spread through the area.
Chris Dorley Brown is a British documentary photographer and filmmaker based in Stratford, East London. He set up his own photography studio in 1984, concentrating on documenting that area. In a series of residencies and commissions focusing on social housing, workplaces, hospitals and architecture, he has established a substantial archive of images. Project partners have included the BBC, the Museum of London, Homerton Hospital, the Wellcome Collection and the archives of several London boroughs. He often works from existing archival documents to manipulate, mix and rework the material to create a series of artwork.
