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, SW1
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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Wonderful photos – thanks for the post. How different London was, and yet the same at it’s heart.
Marvelous pictures from Izis, as always. I especially like the ties…
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
These are great pictures. Unloading in the London Docks… cranes took much of the work of loading and unloading ships fom watermen, and now container shipping has taken over. Please give us more photos by this very talented photographer. Thanks for publishing them, Gentle Author!
These are so wonderful, I am actually sputtering. I was enthralled from the very first glimpse of the couple atop the carousel horse. Just look at them. Years seem to fall away as their faces break into fond smiles. Chuckles. I feature them trundling along, perhaps en route to some innocuous errand. They hear carnival music up ahead, and see the colorful, spinning amusement ride. His blank look turns into a “shall we?” grin, his eyebrows up. Of course, she smiles. He reaches out a hand, and they hop aboard. “Hold on tight there.” —– I will think of this couple all day long. Pure delight.
A magnificent array of photos and stories.
The horse drawn carts are a glimpse of past centuries.
If only we had a Time Machine to wander these streets! I love the white washing against the dark of the buildings x
All super pics, especially Hampden Crescent, that football looks like a medicine ball.
Never was the old saying ‘every picture tells a
story’ more fitting. Lynne P has created a wonderful one for the couple on the carousel. Where to start? I wonder what the curly haired little girl will do next or what is going on inside the head iif the landlady in the west London pub but most of all I want to climb the tree in Chiswick Park but, then again I want to know the life story of the instrument seller from Petticoat Lane.
Really special photographer.
Taken by a very clever photographer. Not sure about the poor old piggies suspended in mid air as their carcases are unloaded. Real life though.
The joy on the faces of the elderly couple in the first photo has really cheered me up today!