Comments on: John Claridge In His Own Words

By: Tony Bock

Tony Bock — Thu, 28 May 2026 02:13:20 +0000

A nice tribute to an important photographer, thank you John.

By: Alto Saxx

Alto Saxx — Wed, 27 May 2026 14:13:33 +0000

Wonderful peice, RIP you master of the art.

By: Di Corry

Di Corry — Wed, 27 May 2026 13:23:38 +0000

Following my comments yesterday, I agree with everything Dick Hobbs has written.
Those of us who grew up in a post war East End, playing on bomb sites and who were part of a real community of hard working people who didn’t have much …were living there long before it became fashionable to have an East End address. We are but shadows now, it’s as if we’ve been airbrushed out to make way for artisan this and artisan that….

Funny how the ‘gentrifying vandals’ have recently discovered both its joys and its proximity to the city.
They’ve even changed many of the pub names that our dads and grandads used to drink in , especially around Victoria Park ‘village’.

John Claridge captured it all, it did exist, we did live there and were proud to do so.

Rest In Peace John….and thank you.

By: Lynne Perrella

Lynne Perrella — Wed, 27 May 2026 12:29:16 +0000

I had my book of John Claridge photos near me all day yesterday, and last evening I read your interview with him before I went to sleep. I so enjoyed hearing about that unique era when creative people were able to mobilize on their own behaves (with a loan from a girlfriend! smile) and get started in careers. And the story about how he got an early job, over “more qualified” gents. Especially how much he enjoyed prowling through his old neighborhood and interacting.

In my mind, I picture a young strapping neighborhood fellow with a camera chatting people up and casually taking their photos. Yes, that happened. But, REALLY he ended up being the lasting chronicler of a region that was on the verge of disappearance. And today we are still thinking deeply about the place — and the man.

Thanks for shining a light.

By: Robin

Robin — Wed, 27 May 2026 10:54:48 +0000

So sad to lose him. We have the John Claridge book on the East End sitting on our bookshelf. Thank you, GA, for that and for sharing the photographs and memories of a brilliant photographer.

By: Dick Hobbs

Dick Hobbs — Wed, 27 May 2026 10:16:42 +0000

My favourite photographer. I’ve always loved his pictures of Plaistow and the docks. JC understood that the East End wasn’t all about the Ripperesque gothic of the nineteenth century and its cultural remnants so beloved of both the gentrifying vandals and the patronising sentimentalists of the middle class. He knew that above all the East End was about hard manual graft, family, and pragmatic community. John Claridge captured these qualities through the faces and places of the real East End.

By: Maria OKeefe

Maria OKeefe — Wed, 27 May 2026 08:49:48 +0000

I knew nothing about John Claridge. Thank you for the introduction. Such an interesting read. I will go away and learn more about him and his work.

By: Dave Phillips

Dave Phillips — Wed, 27 May 2026 08:03:16 +0000

That is a Great Story. It shows whats possible with a bit of pluck and a some luck. Wonderful.

By: Sally Kindberg

Sally Kindberg — Wed, 27 May 2026 07:50:49 +0000

Thank you so much for sharing this brilliant story … ‘an education in wonderment’ … what a magical phrase

By: ANDY STROWMAN

ANDY STROWMAN — Wed, 27 May 2026 06:42:42 +0000

This is a truly brilliant story and makes me proud to come from the East End .
People who didn’t grow up there don’t know the fight we had and it was a case as we say “ Ducking and diving “.

The photographs depicts the moods and I think it fair when when I say the best and the worst people I ever met came from there .
A broad generalisation but it comes from the heart .