 Tangiers, 1936 Humphrey Spender Moroccan Diary The Print Sales Gallery at The Photographers' Gallery will present a selection of photographs by British photographer Humphrey Spender (b. 1910, London). Working as a photojournalist under the title of "Lensman" for the Daily Mirror, "Moroccan Diary" is a series of photographs taken during a six-week commission to Morocco in 1936. The strong light of the Moroccan sun coupled with the necessity to travel with very little equipment and the lack of modern day lens filters and digital technology resulted in images that depicted scenes which are strong in the contrast of light and dark and faint minute detail. This technical result offers air of mystery and sense of contemplative solitude whilst at the same time presenting a unique insight into 1930s Morocco, through the activities of its people. The Moroccan Diary series comprises over 100 images and are vintage prints, meaning theywere printed at the time they were taken and no negative exists. The selection chosen for the Print Sales Gallery exhibition will total thirty-five photographs and aim to present an overview of this extensive body of work. This will be the first time these works will be exhibited. Humphrey Spender began his photographic career as a self-taught photographer. He is greatly influenced by the belief that the task of the artist is to realise the nature of what is happening and to clarify this realisation for the audience. Spender's first employment in the1930s was as a "lensman", or roving reporter taking "artistic" photographs. He then moved on to became a founding photographer of "Picture Post" (1938 - 1957), a magazine that pioneered photographic journalism in the UK. It was during his time at "Picture Post" that Spender began to further develop his photorealist technique. After working for "Picture Post" Humphrey Spender became the official photographer for "Mass Observation", an independent organisation founded in 1937 with the aim to create an "anthropology of ourselves" or inother words to study the everyday lives of people in Britain. Spender took some of his most significant photographs during the period 1932 to 1942.The "Moroccan Diary" predates the "Mass Observation"-period, and reflects Spender's awareness of the social issues and consciousness that dominated Britain in the 1930s.Humphrey Spender is seen as one of the leading photographers in the establishment and development of British documentary photography. Humphrey Spender was born in London in 1910 and currently lives in Essex. He studied at the University of Freiburg in Breisgau, Germany from 1927 - 1928 and subsequently at the Architectural Association School in London from 1929 - 34. From 1930 - the late 1940s Spender, worked on various projects and assignments for the Daily Mirror, Picture Post and Mass Observation. During World War II Humphrey Spender was appointed Official War Photographer, but afterwards gradually moved from photography to concentrate on other interests. Today Humphrey Spender is best known as a photographer, painter, and designer. While on the commissioned photographic trip to Morocco in 1936, Humphrey Spender kept a diary from which he produced a second, self-censored version with the vague idea that it might be published sometime in the future. The unreserved and compelling contents ofthese two texts, set side by side, together with a selection of the previously unseen photographs, have been designed and printed as a limited edition letterpress-printed book of 300 by David Jury. This publication will coincide with the exhibition at The Print Sales Gallery. Exhibition: 21 October - 20 November 2004 Gallery hours: Mon-Sat 11 am - 6 pm, Sun noon - 6 pm The Photographers' Gallery 5 Great Newport Street UK-London WC2H 7HY Telephone +44 020 7831 1772 Fax +44 020 7836 9704 Email info@photnet.org.uk www.photonet.org.uk |
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