097 - Chris Dorley-Brown

Chris Dorley Brown, set up his own photographic practice in 1984 concentrating on documenting East London. In a series of residencies and commissions focussing on social housing, workplaces, hospitals and architecture, he has established a substantial archive of images that are re-purposed and re-contextualised for distribution via web, film, exhibition and publication. Project partners have included the BBC, Museum of London, Homerton Hospital, the Wellcome Collection and various London Borough archives. He often works with re-energising existing archival material as part of creating new works. Recent publications include photo books The Longest Way Round (Overlapse, 2015), Drivers In The 1980s (Hoxton Mini-Press, 2015), The Corners (Hoxton Mini-Press, 2018) and The East End in Colour: The Photography of David Granick (Hoxton Mini-Press, 2018). He lives and works in East London and is represented by the Robert Koch gallery in San Francisco, USA.

In episode 097, Chris discusses, among other things:

• The transition from the 60s to the 70s
• Hackney
• His role as an archivist
• His composite technique, as seen in The Corners
• Being physically attacked by Henri Cartier Bresson
• Not feeling like a pro
• Discovering the work of David Granick for The East End In Colour
• Nostalgia
• Drivers In The 1980s
• His parents’ stories and the book The Longest Way Round

Referenced:

• Ezra Stoller
• Julius Shulman
• Mike Seaborne
• Peter Funch
• Stephen Shore
• Paul Graham
• Bill Brandt
• Diane Arbus
• Tish Murtha
• JG Ballard
• Miles Davis

Website | Facebook | Instagram | Twitter

“Photography is now, what?, 180 years old. It’s still young, as a thing. It’s still very much in its infancy. We’re just coming to understand what it is.”