Documentary Photography from the Arts Council Collection Bill Brandt, Parlourmaid preparing a bath, 1937 Bill Brandt, Coal Miner’s Bath, 1937 © Bill Brandt Archive 2010 © Bill Brandt Archive 2010

Photography is ever-present in our lives, filling newspapers, magazines and advertising hoardings in towns and cities all over the country. In the age of the camera phone, most of us experiment as photographers as we go about capturing our daily lives for friends and family. Our fascination with recording the everyday has its traditions in the Victorian and Edwardian eras, but began in earnest in 1937 with the social surveys and photography of Mass Observation. George Rodger, A London family bombed out of their home during the night, salvage a few personal belongings on the pavement, 1940

An early practitioner of social observation he began to document the lives of the poor was the German-born photographer Bill and the working class, producing images Brandt , who arrived in Britain in the early that contrasted starkly with the pictures of 1930s, where he began recording English his earlier well-heeled subjects. society and its customs. The English at The outbreak of the Second World eHom , published in 1936, depicted the War produced more photographers keen lives of the upper classes, observing their to make observations of society and our social codes with the detached manner of way of life. Some were financed by the so meone unfamiliar with this country and War Office and Ministry of Information. its mores. The same year, several hundred Brandt , one such photographer, was people marched from Jarrow to Westminster commissioned to document air raid shelters to protest against unemployment and and the streets of London in the blackout. ext reme poverty. The protest, which became Another photographer, George Rodger, known as the Jarrow March, did little to previ ously employed by the Listener alleviate their misery but as a result, Brandt Magazine , recorded the effects of the became increasingly concerned about the Blitz on the lives of the British people. plight of the working classes. Visiting the In the post war period images of the north of England for the first time in 1937, daily lives of Britons could be found in the Tony Ray-Jones, Picnic, Glyndebourne, 1967 © Tony Ray-Jones collection at the National Media Museum/SSPL

pages of magazines like Picture Post, The The colour supplements of The Sunday Tatler and Illustrated London News , which Times and The Observer, which appeared em ployed the talents of photographers in the mid 1960s, only partially filled the gap, such as Roger Mayne and Bert Hardy. their emphasis being more on reportage Roger Mayne, after achieving success and ‘news’ photos. Nevertheless, the as a photographer in the United States, desire to capture our way of life in pictures retur ned to Britain in 1954. He settled in remained. Tony Ray-Jones, returning to this No rth Kensington and embarked on what country in 1965 from the United States, became his most famous work, Southam began a camper van tour of the country Street. A somewhat reserved person, he with the express intention to document felt immediately at home with the busy English festivals and customs before we street life of the area, describing the streets becam e too ‘Americanised’. as ‘having their own kind of splendour Until the 1970s the Arts Council, like whether empty or swarming with people’. most museums and galleries, did not With the arrival of television in the 1950s collect photographic work in the same magazine sales began to dwindle and, as way as painting or sculpture, regarding a result, an important source of financial photogra phy as a ‘news medium’. But, suppo rt for photographers diminished. in 1973, the Council appointed their first Martin Parr, Hebden Bridge, Vanley Burke, Grove Junior School – Reading with Steep Lane buffet lunch, 1974–1977 Teacher (from ‘ Handsworth from Inside’ series), © Martin Parr/Magnum Photos 1968–1982 full time Photography Officer, Barry Lane. subject matter of social deprivation, these The previous year Lane had produced new photographers did not wish to solely his authoritative report Pu blic Funding reflect British courage and determination of Photography in America and Canada, in the face of adversity. Through the 1970s, which convinced the Council that in order images of a more divided society began fo r photography to flourish in this country to emerge. The establishment of small it needed sustained funding and support. galleries across the country dedicated to Lane immediately appointed a committee photography also meant that there were of specialists to advise on photography with increased opportunities for photographers the aim of organising touring exhibitions, to show their work. producing and disseminating publications In addition to acquiring work, the and, most importantly, commissioning Arts Council recognised the need to and buying photographic work. With this provide financial support for struggling breakthrough the Council’s extraordinary practitioners. Grants were made available photogra phy collection was established. to photographers on the understanding A number of British photographers were that once the work was made it would starting to work in a markedly different way. automatically find a home in the Collection. While they continued to explore the familiar In 1974, with the support of the Arts Council, Paul Graham, Old man being interviewed, DHSS Office, Birmingham 1984 (from the series ‘Beyond Caring’ 1984–1986), 1985

Daniel Meadows took to the road in a arrived in this country as a child in the mid- double-decker bus for a project called the sixties and, having received a camera as a Free Photographic Omnibus , an attempt gift , began to take photographs of his local by Meadows to capture traditions and co mmunity in Handsworth, Birmingham. carnivals that were fast disappearing. Three Having noticed a lack of images of black years later, Ian Berry produced his two year people in British photography he made exploration of English life in a book of a conscious decision to document their photographs, simply entitled The English. social history. In the same decade the work of Martin Until the 1980s most British documentary Par r began to attract interest. Perhaps photographers produced their work in our most perceptive commentator on the bla ck and white. Paul Graham was one of idiosyncrasies of the British at leisure, his the first photographers to embrace colour wo rk has proved controversial for its less film, which he used to extraordinary effect than comfortable perspective. The 1970s in the series Beyond Caring, 1984–1986. also witnessed the development of a more The work constitutes a record of people’s ethni cally diverse population and the exper iences of the welfare benefits system. emergence of photographers like Vanley Made during a time of economic recession, Burke. Originally from Jamaica, Burke had the images evidence a powerful sense of Henry Bond and Liam Gillick, 14th February 1992; Auction of the contents of Robert Maxwell’s London home, Sotheby’s, 1992

social inequality and embody a somewhat evolved. For their Documents project of bleak assessment of the lives of the poor. 1990, the artists attempted to examine the In the early 1990s the photography dissemination of information through the collecti on was incorporated into the main media by using materials from press agencies body of the Arts Council Collection where and posing as journalists to gain access to it has remained ever since. Reflecting ‘n ews events’. the increasing interest in the art market, Like the rest of the Arts Council Collection, photography is pro-actively acquired, but, photography continues to generate a high as the medium has become fully integrated demand for loans from other institutions and within fine art practice, the emphasis is less continues to be shown extensively in our own on documentary work. One of the more to uring exhibitions. Since 2008, two major recent works in this display, 14 February exhibiti ons featuring photography – No Such 1992; Auction of the contents of Robert Thing as Society curated by Professor David Maxwell’s London home, Sotheby’s, 1992, Alan Mellor and Unpopular Culture: Grayson is from a larger collaborative project by Perry Selects from the Arts Council Collection artists Henry Bond and Liam Gillick and – have been shown in eighteen venues in the illust rates one of the ways in which artists United Kingdom, Sweden and Poland where work in the photographic medium has they have been seen by over 210,000 people. What is the Arts Council Collection? Who runs the Collection? The Arts Council Collection is one of this country’s The Collection is managed by Southbank foremost national collections of post-war British Centre on behalf of Arts Council England (ACE). art. It is also the most widely circulated collection Col lection staff are based in London and at of its kind. It acts as a ’museum without walls’, Longside, Yorkshire Sculpture Park, where the lending modern and contemporary British art to sculpt ure collection is housed. publicly funded bodies within the UK as well as Ho w can you borrow from the Collection? museums and galleries worldwide. The Collection is always happy to consider Why does it exist? requests from public institutions to borrow The Collection was established in 1946 with work. Enquiries can be made by emailing the aim of purchasing innovative work from [email protected] or by telephoning artists living and working in Britain. Through 020 7960 5218. Further information about our touring exhibitions and by making loans to other different loan schemes is available from our website. institutions, the intention is to give access to the How are new acquisitions made? best of modern and contemporary British art to The Acquisitions Committee is chaired by the Head organisations, large and small, in all corners of of the Collection. Every two years, three individuals the nation. are invited to advise the internal members of the Ho w large is the Collection? committee on the purchase of work. Over the The Collection owns over 7,500 works by past decade, this panel has included some of nearly 2,000 artists. The Collection continues the country’s leading artists, writers, critics and to make new acquisitions every year. The cur ators from every part of Great Britain. Col lection’s holdings can be viewed on line at What is the annual acquisitions budget? www. artscouncilcollection.org.uk. Th e annual acquisitions budget is typically around Where can I see the Collection? £180,000, which is occasionally supplemented Th e Collection provides loans to museums, galleries, by additional external funding for exceptional and other public institutions such as universities, works of art. The Collection holds key works by col leges, schools, charities, libraries and hospitals. such luminaries as Francis Bacon, Lucian Freud, In the past three years 1,305 works have been seen Damien Hirst, Bridget Riley and Anthony Gormley, in exhibitions and a further 1,227 were displayed in all acquired at early but critical points in their public buildings across the country. artistic careers.

Changing Britain: Portcullis House 1 June –1 July 2010 Exhibition organised by Jill Constantine with Visit www.artscouncilcollection.org.uk Moni ka McConnell, Andy Craig and Greg Salter. to find out more about us and to search our Text Jill Constantine. holdings online. Cover Image – Tony Ray-Jones, Brighton Beach, A full list of Arts Council Collection and Hayward 1967 © Tony Ray-Jones collection at the National Gall ery Publications may be obtained from the Media Museum/SSPL Publ ication Sales Manager, Deborah Power: [email protected] All images © the artists or artists estates unless otherwise stated. ISBN no. 978-1-85332-290-7