John Claridge’s Boxers
Remembering John Claridge who died on Sunday 24th May aged eighty-one. In 2012, John & I visited the monthly meetings of London Ex-Boxers Association to take portraits of the members. Coming from a family of boxers and being an ex-boxer himself, John possesses a natural empathy with these spirited men who were once the fiercest of opponents but are now the closest of friends.
Johnny Barnham (First fight 1950 – last fight 1955)
Ron Whittham (First fight 1950 – last fight 1961)
Joey Khan (First fight 1950 – last fight 1955)
Dynamo Colin Dunne (First fight 1993 – last fight 2003)
Peter Cragg (First fight 1966 – last fight 1970)
Sylvester Mittee (First fight 1977 – last fight 1988)
Ronnie Smith (First fight 1956 – last fight 1966)
Sammy McCarthy (First fight 1946 – last fight 1957)
Billy Graydon (First fight 1949 – last fight 1960)
Ron Cooper (First fight 1944 – last fight 1953)
Dave Cooper (First fight 1966 – last fight 1972)
Paul Fairweather, Committee Member of London Ex-Boxers ( fought in 1965)
Photographs copyright © John Claridge
Take a look at the entire series
John Claridge’s Boxers (Round One)
John Claridge’s Boxers (Round Two)
John Claridge’s Boxers (Round Three)
John Claridge’s Boxers (Round Four)
John Claridge’s Boxers (Round Five)
John Claridge’s Boxers (Round Six)
John Claridge’s Boxers (Round Seven)
John Claridge’s Boxers (Round Eight)
John Claridge’s Boxers (Round Nine)
John Claridge’s Boxers (Round Ten)
What a photographer John Claridge was.
I have been really enjoying the recent blogs and fantastic photographs. (I was a photographer myself for a time, NUJ member etc)
I knew John did a bit of boxing at one time, so would have had a connection with the boxers in the above photos.
Absolutely Brilliant!
Thanks so must for your lovely blog, I read it every day.
Alert your National Portrait Gallery. Surely, this needs to be a special exhibit. Just now, I was thinking of ALL the things that John Claridge did well………the harbor scenes, the neighborhood people, his commercial work, etc. And then I realized………”Story telling”. THAT was what he did better than anyone. The man told stories with his camera.
He leaves a huge legacy, and thanks for shining a light.
He really caught the aged pugilist beautifully with real compassion. Human studies are not really my bag, but these are fantastic.