How the East End has inspired the greats of British street photographers

20 November 2024 Agatha Scaggiante

Just as the bleak streets of New York inspired the birth of street photography in the early twentieth century, the East End was the muse for British street photography.

When cameras came to market in the mid-1800s, the streets of the East End were narrow and dark, and the cameras were heavy boxes, cobbled together with thick glass, metal and wood. They produced grainy black-and-white shadows of the streets and were specialist devices for eccentric hobbyists.

Today, everyone carries slim, powerful cameras with them. The roads are smooth and fast and the East End is full of shining glass and fashionable cafes. Aside from what we photograph on our phones, London’s hundreds of thousands of CCTV cameras line the streets, recording us in hi-definition.

Photographers will always be entranced by the East End, possibly due to its constantly shifting industries, immigrants and topography. British street photography was arguably birthed here and had its heyday in the post-war East End, full of squatters and artists. Modern photographers are carrying the tradition forward.

‘Precisely by slicing out this moment and freezing it, all photographs testify to time’s relentless melt,’ says American author and critic Susan Sontag.

Street photography saw its heyday in the early twentieth century when pioneering photographers took cameras onto the streets to experiment with new-fangled technology that could capture candid moments in time. Art jumped from hours of painting to one click of a shutter.

Many of the greats of street photography trod the pavements of urban America and Paris, inspired by the everyday reality they could now share with an unflinching verisimilitude. So it was in the East End of London, whose gritty streets inspired a wave of pioneering street photographers.

Photographers from the East End tend to be completionists, building up impressive archives of street photography and zeroing in on street markets, social conflict and changing urban life.

It would be nigh on impossible to write a comprehensive history of street photography in the East End but here is a snapshot.

William Whiffin (1878-1957)

Man balancing on the stern of a ship moored on The Thames in London's docks, taken by photographer William Whiffin in the late 1918. — Docker on ship by photographer William Whiffin in 1918.

William Whiffin pioneered what came to be known as street photography. Born in Poplar, Whiffin’s family business was commercial photography. Out of hours, he documented people in the docks, shopping at the rag markets, and loitering in long tunnelling alleyways. Whiffin’s knack for framing gives his photos an eerie, stately feel – factories become temples. His work has recently gained recognition and was exhibited at the Tower Hamlets Local History Library and Archives in 2015.

CA Matthew (?–1923)

A building site in East London with carts on the road and children playing on the cobbles, taken by photograph C.A. Matthews. — 1911 photo by CA Matthews

CA Matthew is a mysterious photographer uncovered a decade ago by the Bishopsgate Institute. In 1911 he documented a single walk through Spitalfields with hundreds of photographs, capturing noticeably busier streets than Whiffin’s and a growing Jewish diaspora. With very little photographic record from this period, Matthew’s semi-candid photos have been an invaluable insight for historians trying to understand what Spitalfields was like day-to-day in the 1900s.

Horace Warner’s Spitalfields Nippers (1912)

young girl and boy making kindling on a cobbled street in the East End of London taken by street photographer Horace Warner. — Making kindling, taken 1912 by Horace Warner from the book Spitalfields Nippers published by Spitalfields Life

Horace Warner’s Spitalfields Nippers was portraiture of the children who lived in the courtyards off Quaker Street in 1912. Unveiled by local blogger The Gentle Author and Warner’s grandson, the over one hundred portraits are an immersive meeting with the oddly jaded children on the street. They have been published in a monograph by The Gentle Author’s publishing press ‘Spitalfields Life Books.’

Edith Tudor Hart (1908–1973)

A portrait of Edith Tudor-Hart smoking, who photographed the East End but was also a spy for Russia. — Edith Tudor-Hart, spy and photographer © CC BY 2.0.

Edith Tudor-Hart was an Austrian-British spy for the Soviet Union, as well as a photographer. Her photos of the East End, taken while she was stationed as a spy during the Cold War, captured child poverty and social injustice. Although they were intended as propaganda, the slums and children dressed in rags are undeniably real. Her images were reproduced in Communist leaflets.

Nigel Henderson (1917–1985)

Children playing hopscotch and skipping games on Chisenhale Road in East London outside the house where Nigel Henderson used to live. — Children playing on Chisenhale Road where Nigel Henderson lived. © Nigel Henderson circa 1950

With a playful eye, photographer and artist Nigel Henderson captured the hubbub of Bethnal Green and Bow, where he lived, between 1949 and 1952. Photography was partly a means of recovery from the trauma he endured as a pilot during the Second World War. Best known from this period are his photos of the 1953 Coronation celebrations, featuring banquet tables pulled out into the street and chubby children in knee-high socks.

Bandele ‘Tex’ Ajetunmobi (1921–1994)

Photo by Bandele ‘Tex’ Ajetunmobi, from the series East End Portraits, 1950 – 1980. Courtesy Autograph, London

In post-war East London, Nigerian-born photographer Bandele ‘Tex’ Ajetunmobi shot everyday life among working-class communities. Ajetunmobi was a market stall trader in Brick Lane as multiculturalism boomed in the UK – his work is known for its vibrant, energetic portrayals of interracial relationships in the East End.

John Claridge (1944–Present day)

A single white bird flying through a dark, foggy industrial landscape in the East End of London, taken by street photographer John Claridge. — Photo by John Claridge circa 1960s courtesy of Spitalfields Life

John Claridge grew up in East End, the son of a docker who loved bare-knuckle wrestling. He photographed his neighbourhood fondly and extensively in the 1960s before leaving the East End at age 19. His patient eye produced a melancholy, tranquil record of the area.

Paul Trevor (1947–Present day)

A young child sorts through clothes on a market day on Cheshire Street. A black and white photo taken by street photographer Paul Trevor in 1975. — Cheshire Street, London E2, 1975 © Paul Trevor

Paul Trevor photographed daily life around Brick Lane from the early 1970s until the 1990s and was part of the Exit Photography Group. His completionist tendencies produced some of the most compelling and extensive street photography of the period, which is now being released in instalments as part of his Eastender Series. Trevor also helped set up the Half Moon Photography Workshop, and Camerawork magazine, pillars of the local photography scene in the 1970s and 1980s

David Hoffman (1946–Present day)

Black and white photograph of demonstrator being gripped around neck by police officer at G20 riots in London, by photographer David Hoffman — ‘The Strangle’ at the G20 protests © David Hoffman 2010

‘Protest photographer’ David Hoffman photographed the East End, particularly Whitechapel, starting in the 70s. He ventured into famous riots and protests, such as those following the murder of Altab Ali, for dynamic, impeccably timed action shots. His work also documents squats and urban life.

Half Moon Photography Workshop (1972 – 1984)

The Half Moon Photography Workshop was a collective of photographers in a squatted synagogue in Whitechapel named after Half Moon Passage, a nearby alley. The collective helped teach photography and ran the Half Moon Gallery (which exhibited photography) and Camerawork magazine, with which they later merged names.

They saw photography as a tool for social change and produced touring exhibitions that roamed the country, depicting home birthing to Guatemalan refugees. The building, now a Wetherspoons, also hosted Half Moon Young People’s Theatre, which has since moved.

Camerawork magazine (1976–1985)

Camerawork was the UK’s first radical photography magazine. Printed in stark black and white on folded A2 sheets, the bi-monthly mag covered controversial topics of modern life, with an activist slant. Born out of the Half Moon Photography Workshop, which was part of a vacant squatted synagogue, the magazine ran for nearly a decade.

Four Corners (1973-present day)

The exterior shot of Four Corners film and photography centre, on Roman Road in East London, in about 1978. — With kind permission from Four Corners.

Just a few doors down from the Half Moon Photography Workshop (later known as Camerawork) was Four Corners, another collective for developing local independent filmmaking. Funded by Channel Four, they produced Britain’s first gay feature film and the first Bangladeshi feature film made in Britain. After losing the Channel Four funding they became known for high-quality free training programmes for filmmakers.

In 2003, they reopened the darkrooms and photographic gallery formerly run by Camerawork with funding from Arts Council England. Their extensive local photography archive is our best record of Camerawork magazine, as well as of the Half Moon Photography Workshop. Four Corners hosts rotating gallery exhibitions, runs photography workshops and lends out kit.

Mike Seaborne (1954 – Present day)

A snowy East End with housing in the foreground and The Thames in the distance, with warehouses lining the river, taken by photographer Mike Seaborne in 1984. — © Mike Seaborne in 1984.

Between 1983 and 1986, photographer Mike Seaborne extensively documented the streets and buildings of the Isle of Dogs as well as its factories, schools and social spaces. The photos keep a record of the island before its drastic redevelopment. He published them in a book with Hoxton Mini Press titled ‘The Isle of Dogs Before the Big Money.’

Phil Maxwell (1953–present day)

Photo by street photographer phil maxwell of sclater street sunday market vendors. — Sclater Street Sunday market. East London 2003 © Phil Maxwell

Photographing East London from the 80s and into the 2010s, photographer Phil Maxwell caught the slow slip of time while shooting markets, street life, and neighbours. His unfussy often humorous style captures a changeless spirit in the East End.

Markéta Luskačová (1944 – Present day)

Markéta Luskačová with her camera, know for street photography of East End markets. — Photo of Markéta Luskačová by Nadia Rovderov © CC BY 2.0

Czech Photographer Markéta Luskačová visited London from Prague in the mid-seventies and was immediately captivated by the markets which were banned under Communist rule in Prague, especially the Brick Lane market. For over thirty years Luskačová returned to east London to capture its bizarre economy, where jewels, rags, vegetables and exotic animals all traded hands in a frenzy.

Raju Vaidyanathan (1959 – Present day)

Joi Bangla Krew music band near a derelict building in the East End of London, taken by photographer Raju Vaidyanathan. — Photo of Joi Bangla Krew circa 1980s courtesy of Raju Vaidyanathan.

Raju Vaidyanathan acquired a camera as a teenager in 1983 but had no money to print the black and white photos he took. Vaidyanathan, who was born and raised in Brick Lane, took loving portraits of interesting people in his South Asian community. Luckily for us in the mid-2010s he got the money to develop what was then 40,000 negatives, which have since been critically acclaimed.

Sarah Ainslie (1952 – Present day)

A strip tease artist from Baby Oil Ice photobook written by East End photograher, Sarah Ainslie. — A 2002 photo from ‘Baby Oil and Ice’ © Sarah Ainslie

From working women in Bethnal Green to protesters for the Save Brick Lane campaign, Sarah Ainslie has an activist lens. Her work in Baby Oil and Ice: Striptease in East London is especially notable. With photos by Ainslie and Julie Cook, and edited by Lara Clifton, the 2002 book brought the quickly disappearing ‘seedy’ world of pub strippers to light. Alongside photography, the book included the voices of strip-tease artists and their customers, telling a rich and complete story.

Hoxton Mini Press (2016 – Present day)

Independent East London-based publisher Hoxton Mini Press publishes high-quality art and photography books. Founded in 2016, they print small-run photo books with local talent, playing an important part in preserving and celebrating local photography history.

The Gentle Author

Anonymous local blogger The Gentle Author has been writing a daily blog for the past fifteen years, with the goal to write ten thousand stories about ‘Spitalfields Life.’ Many of the blog posts include definitive research and original interviews with local photographers. The Gentle Author’s research has been invaluable to this article, as well as local history records. They have most recently published a monograph of David Hoffman’s work through their small publishing company named Spitalfields Life Books.

If you liked this read ‘Whoretographer’ Poppy Pray snaps the golden years of the Bethnal Green Working Men’s Club

Please support local journalism.

As a social enterprise using constructive journalism to strengthen communities, we have not put our digital content behind a paywall or subscription fee as we think the benefits of an independent, local publication should be available to everyone in our area.

We are a tiny team of four covering Bethnal Green and Tower Hamlets, relying entirely on member donations. Hundreds of members have already joined. Become a member to donate as little as £3 per month to support constructive journalism and the local community.

Donate