John Claridge
John Claridge (born 1944) is a British photographer, known for his work in advertising, black and white portraits in Soho and street photographs in the East End of London.
Early life
Claridge was born in
Career
In 1961 he left to become assistant to
Projects and series
Claridge began taking photos of the East End as a teenager in the 1960s. The series was published as a book (East End) in 2016.[9]
He began taking the jazz portraits series while living in his flat above Ronnie Scott's.[6] In 1986, he photographed Chet Baker in the club:
Chet Baker came in one night in 1986, and I asked him if I could do a couple of shots before he went on. I said: 'I’ve got to tell you, when I was 13, I bought the Chet Baker Quartet record with Winter Wonderland on it. Russ Freeman was the pianist … ' And Chet said, 'Yeah, he was, in 1953.' He just stopped and stared, going back through his memory. And that’s when I took the picture.[7]
Having grown up in a boxing family,[2] Claridge has taken over 100 photographs of members of the London Ex-Boxer's Association, which were serially published by The Gentle Author, 2012-2013.[10]
Of Claridge's Soho Faces project (2004-2017) he said, "I decided to document the customers at The French in earnest. For me, it was the one place in Soho that still held its Bohemian character, where people truly chose to share time and conversation, and I became aware that many I had once chinked glasses with were no longer around."[11]
Claridge took over 500 portraits for Soho Faces[11] and he is considered to have taken more photographs of the East End than any other photographer.[5]
Publications
Publications by Claridge
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Publications with contributions by Claridge
- The Gentle Author's London Album. London: Spitalfields Life, 2013 (Boxers series)
Notes
References
- ^ a b c d Hanson, Kyra (27 September 2016). "Haunting Photos of the East End". The Londonist. Retrieved 18 May 2016.
- ^ a b c Froud, Emily Rose. "Photography: John Claridge: Boxers, round one". Archived from the original on 27 November 2012. Retrieved 13 January 2020.
- ^ "'My East End's gone, it doesn't exist any more. And these are pictures I could never do again, I don't have that naivety and innocence': photographer and Londoner John Claridge". Evening Standard. 9 September 2013. Retrieved 18 May 2018.
- ^ "John Claridge (1944-)". www.npg.org.uk. National Portrait Gallery. Retrieved 18 May 2018.
- ^ a b The Gentle Author (7 August 2016). "The East End from the inside". The New Statesman. Retrieved 18 May 2018.
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has generic name (help) - ^ a b c d Dye, David (23 June 2015). "IN-CAMERA 3: John Claridge". www.davedye.com. Retrieved 18 May 2018.
- ^ a b Beaumont, Thomas (17 August 2016). "John Claridge's best photograph: Chet Baker lost in memory". The Guardian. Retrieved 18 May 2018.
- ^ "Celebrating 50 years of powerful photography". BBC. 17 April 2018. Retrieved 18 May 2018.
- ^ "Corsets and chickens: the East End in the 1960s – in pictures". The Guardian. 17 June 2016. Retrieved 18 May 2018.
- ^ The Gentle Author. "John Claridge's Boxers (Round Ten)". Spitalfields Life. Retrieved 14 June 2018.
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has generic name (help) - ^ a b The Gentle Author (10 March 2017). "John Claridge's Soho Portraits". Spitalfields Life. Retrieved 18 May 2018.
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External links
- Official Website of John Claridge
- John Claridge's best photograph: Chet Baker lost in memory, published by The Guardian
- John Claridge in the National Portrait Gallery
- John Claridge in the Arts Council Collection
- John Claridge in Mind's Eye Gallery