So Long, John Claridge
Legendary photographer John Claridge died on Sunday aged eighty-one. Growing up in West Ham, he photographed the East End in the sixties and took more pictures here than anyone else in that era. We were proud to have published his book East End in 2016.
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 saw John working at the top of his profession for decades, yet he still carried 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.”
Collecting firewood, 1960
1961
1963
1966
1972
1960
Ex-boxer, 1962
1974
1962
1961
Mass X-Ray, 1966
1962
1960
Flower Seller, 1959
1962
Shoe Rebuilders, 1965
London fog, 1959
Going to work, 1959
London Docks, 1964
Photographs copyright © John Claridge
Sorry to hear of the passing of JC. Many have taken great pictures of the East End but none (imo) have made their pictures tell such stories as his did, and spark your imagination about the characters and scenes he captured.
Thank you GA for bringing his work to more prominence.
Sad news. RIP Mr John Claridge. Thank you for your work and books.
To me, he is one of the greatest photographers. His art is unique, and the book *EAST END* is a real treasure. Dear JOHN CLARIDGE (1944-2026) — R.I.P.
Love & Peace
ACHIM
So sorry to hear this news.
John’s photographs of the East End are an exceptional body of work and have taken me back on many occasions to the area I grew up and lived in . ….now gone forever.
He was ahead of his time and a master of his art.
Thank you John for preserving so many memories for fellow Eastenders.
May you Rest In Peace.
God Bless.
All I can say to this is what great photography these are and may the wonders you brought never be forgotten.
For the first time last night my wife and I told one of our grown up sons about the Winter times we grew up in .
I shall never forget those “ pea soupers”.
What with the lack of hearing in our home . We had one small coal fire downstairs and later a paraffin heater in the scullery .
No wonder I got bronchitis and had bad chest a lot .
Wake up to ice panes on the window in the morning in the Winter . Three of us in one room . That was luxury I found out last week sitting opposites a woman from Connemara was one of eighteen children and grew up on a farm .
Sad news. What a great photographer, his images of London will live on.
RIP John Claridge
Such sad news, what a wonderful photographer who has given us so many beautiful, pertinent and moving pictures of the people and places in the East End. I will treasure his book.
The picture of his neighbours,taken in 1968, catches me by the throat every time I see it..what a brilliant gifted intuitive man.wonderful that he saw his path so clearly and was able to pursue it. RIP Mr Claridge
Was there on every one, early mornings, great memories, farewell my love
Of the many discoveries I have made via Spitalfields Life, I think John Claridge was the most monumental. Thanks to you and John Claridge, I encountered the grit, grime, and pathos of your region. And it resonated deeply with me, as someone who grew up in a city called “Hell With the Lid Off”. (Pittsburgh) I would never trade the strange beauty of my home town for anything — and in John Claridge, I encountered a kindred soul. He seemingly had a love of imperfection and well-worn surfaces…….and debris piles……….and scaling facades………..and unique faces……..and gnarly knuckles and fingers………..and textures. Most of all, he had an unerring eye. And he possessed the zeal to convey his view of the world, and take us along for the ride. I will make sure to spend some time with my well-loved book of John Claridge photos today……..with an extra dollop of appreciation and regard.
Wonderful pictures from another time
Bugger.
One of the greats I. M. O.
Thanks for bringing this great artist to my attention many years ago.
A sad loss.
Take some more images on that cloud, John.
Absolutely wonderful photographs. A time gone past – What wonderful work. Thank you for preserving this legacy for all of us to see.
What an amazing man he sounds to have been, and what a talent and dedication he has left behind him. He will be missed by many. Rest in Peace John Claridge.
As an Art Director at BBDO & Saatch& Saatchi I had the privilege of working with John.
He was a wonderful photographer and as important a smashing bloke. I felt an affinity
to him, as he grew up in and around Plaistow where my Grandparents lived.
Rest in peace my friend.
Sorry to hear the passing of JC. Of all the people that you have introduced us to over the years his work has interested me most. God bless you John!
Worked with John Claridge on an exhibition of his London photographs – “Warm in the Shadows, Cold in the Sun” at the Royal Photographic Society in 1992 & interviewed him for 3 hours!! Lovely guy. He also chose 19C images from the RPS Collection for an accompanying London-themed exhibition including John Thomson’s “Street Life in London”.
https://archive.rps.org/archive/volume-132/750339?q=john%20claridge
The passing of a great photographer – What wonderful pictures of the old East End
last time i saw you at your beautiful house in France – such a memorable visit a few years ago
You were still taking photographs in your studio there
RIP