Wed 23 Oct
6:30-9pm
Chris Dorley Brown has documented London's East End all his life. Now, the photographer's first monograph has been published in a remarkable volume by Nouveau Palais Editions. He will be in conversation with Gareth Evans.
Chris is a self-taught British documentary photographer, based in London's East End. His cultural education was formed here in the late 1970s, against a backdrop of highly polarized political conflict and change. The photographs presented in this book - almost 100 - were taken between 1984 and 2023. The journey through the book is like taking a stroll: starting on the banks of the Thames, we discover the vernacular architecture of the 1980s; their demolition a few years later; followed by more recent architecture. We follow the transformations brought about by construction for the Olympic Games; then, the deserted streets during lockdown; ending on the banks of the Thames, almost at its mouth. One-offs, here and there, intersperse these main themes. Texts and leaflets are included in the book. Revealing the recent history of the East End, this series is also, and above all, a depiction of how capitalist development took on new forms as it spread through the area.