Joseph McKeown
Joseph McKeown (10 February 1925 – 12 February 2007) was an English
Early life
McKeown grew up as one of a large, working-class
He was offered a job at
Work for Picture Post
McKeown's years at
In stark contrast with the pictures of royalty and high society were those he took of ordinary people living in the austerity of post-war Britain. It is perhaps these, though, which are of the most lasting value as social documents.
In 1954, he photographed Leonard Cheshire for Russell Braddon's biography, Leonard Cheshire VC: a story of war and peace.
In 1956, he was dispatched to
Later life and work
After leaving Picture Post, McKeown worked as a freelance, with photographs appearing frequently in Life and Paris Match. He did a considerable amount of advertising work in this era; probably the best remembered campaign he worked on was "Go to work on an egg".
In 1967, he took a picture of Donald Campbell rowing on Coniston Water, the evening before his fatal attempt at the water speed record. The picture was unpublished until 1981.
Also in 1967, he collaborated with Aubrey Wilson on London's Industrial Heritage. The Evening News said: "Illuminated by Joseph McKeown's moody, lyrical photographs, here is a guide to a London that has hitherto eluded eyes accustomed to other aesthetics standards." As such, Wilson and McKeown were among the pioneers of industrial heritage as an idea.
He moved, with his wife and two children, to
Shortly after his death in 2007, his work was featured in a Getty Images exhibition of photographs from Picture Post.
External links
- Photographs with Getty Images [1]
- Audrey Hepburn photographs in The Times Magazine [2]
- Obituary featured in The Times [3]
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