Israel Bidermanas’ London
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Lithuanian-born Israel Bidermanas (1911-1980) first achieved recognition under the identity of Izis for his portraits of members of the French resistance that he took while in hiding near Limoges at the time of the German invasion. Encouraged by Brassai, he pursued a career as a professional photographer in peacetime, fulfilling commissions for Paris Match and befriending Jacques Prévert and Marc Chagall. He and Prévert were inveterate urban wanderers and in 1952 they published ‘Charmes de Londres,’ delivering this vivid and poetic vision of the shabby old capital in the threadbare post-war years.
In the cemetery of St John, Wapping
Milk cart in Gordon Sq, Bloomsbury
At Club Row animal market, Spitalfields
The Nag’s Head, Kinnerton St, W1
In Pennyfields, Limehouse
Palace St, Westminster
Ties on sale in Ming St, Limehouse
Greengrocer, Kings Rd, Chelsea
Diver in the London Docks
Organ Grinder, Shaftesbury Ave, Piccadilly
Sphinx, Chiswick Park
Hampden Crescent, W2
Underhill Passage, Camden Town
Braithwaite Arches, Wheler St, Spitalfields
East India Dock Rd, Limehouse
Musical instrument seller, Petticoat Lane
Grosvenor Crescent Mews, Hyde Park Corner
Unloading in the London Docks
London Electricity Board Apprentices
On the waterfront at Greenwich
Tower Bridge
Photographs courtesy Bishopsgate Institute
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Thank you so much for sharing theee evocative photographs with your readers.
Looks like a hard life, but a joyous one. Do we celebrate joy these days?
The first pic of the elderly couple on the carousel has really made me smile this morning, they just look so joyful. It’s as if all their cares have gone away for that moment. Really lovely.
These are so good.
Vibrant slices of working class life.
Brilliant photography.
Thanks.
It’s striking to see the impact of black and white photos — these images don’t need any color, which simply wouldn’t be suitable here either. Each of the photos is perfect in its own way.
Love & Peace
ACHIM
I loved these images so much I have ordered a copy of the book on line. I have to agree with Cherub, the first image of the the couple on the galloper made me smile too. How wonderful to see London before the money and venality moved in.
A great set of images from all across London. Brilliant, thanks GA.
‘Hampden Crescent W2’ must have been an inspiration for Roger Mayne in his ‘Photographs on Southam Street’ just a few years later.