Chris Dorley-Brown Explained

Chris Dorley-Brown is a British documentary photographer^[1] and filmmaker, based in the East End of London.^[2]

Since 1984, Dorley-Brown has been creating a photographic archive of the London Borough of Hackney. Since 1993 he has collaborated with other people on a variety of projects in radio, print, cinema, television, Internet and architecture.

His photography books include The Longest Way Round (2015),^[3] Drivers in the 1980s (2015)^{[4] [5] [6] [7]} and The Corners (2018). His films include BBC in the East End 1958–1973 (2007) and 15 Seconds Part 3 (2015).

Life and work

Dorley-Brown grew up on the Isle of Wight, off the south coast of England.^[8] He trained as a silkscreen printer and print finisher after leaving school. Later he joined the photographer Red Saunders' studio as a camera assistant. He went freelance in 1984, creating a photographic archive of the London Borough of Hackney where he lived and worked, which he has continued to do.^[9]

"Largely self-taught, his cultural education was formed in east London in the late seventies, against a backdrop of strongly polarised political conflict and change. His influences are shaped by memory, both personal and those of others."

In 1991, he expanded into filmmaking and other activities associated with burgeoning new technologies.^[10] Since 1993 Dorley-Brown has collaborated with other people of various creative disciplines, as well as groups and individuals in the public sphere, on a variety of projects in radio, print, cinema, television, Internet and architecture.

Publications

Publications by Dorley-Brown

• The Corners. Self‐published, 2010.
• Continuum. FusionLab Inc, 2014. Digital photobook for iPad.^{[11] [12]}
• The Longest Way Round. UK: Overlapse, 2015. .
• Drivers in the 1980s. East London Photo Stories Book 6. London: Hoxton Mini Press, 2015. .^[13]
• The Corners. London: Hoxton Mini Press, 2018. .
• A History of the East End. France: Noveau Palais. 2024. .^[14]

Publication with others

• The Cut. London: Space, 2011. Photographs by Dorley-Brown, Jessie Brennan, and Daniel Lehan. Edited by Dorley-Brown.^[15]

Publications edited by Dorley-Brown

• The East End in Colour 1960-1980. London: Hoxton Mini Press, 2018. By David Granick. Edited and with an introduction by Dorley-Brown. . Edition of 3000 copies. Second edition; .

Publications with contributions by Dorley-Brown

• Scarpe: Moda e Fantasia = Shoes: Fashion and Fantasy. Milan: Rizzoli, 1990. Edited by Colin McDowell and Manolo Blahnik. . With a preface by Blahnik.
• Photographers London: 1839-1994. London: Museum of London, 1995. Edited by Mike Seaborne. .
• Future Face: Image, Identity, Innovation. London: Profile; Wellcome Trust; Science Museum, 2003. By Sandra Kemp. . With contributions from Vicki Bruce and Alf Linney. Accompanied the Future Face exhibition at the Science Museum, October 2004 – February 2005.^[16]
• Face: The New Photographic Portrait. London: Thames & Hudson, 2004. By William Ewing. / Faire faces: Le nouveau portrait photographique. France: Actes Sud, 2004. .
• Photography Reborn: Image Making in the Digital Era. New York City: Abrams, 2006. Edited by Jonathan Lipkin. .
• London Street Photography: 1860–2010. London: Museum of London; Stockport: Dewi Lewis, 2011. . Selected from the Museum of London collection by Mike Seaborne and Anna Sparham. Published to accompany an exhibition at the Museum.
• The Art of Dissent: Adventures in London's Olympic State. Marshgate, 2012. Edited by Hilary Powell and Isaac Marrero-Guillamon. .^[17] Dorley-Brown contributes journal extracts.
• The Wick. Issue 3. London: See Studio, 2013. Edited by Marrero-Guillamon. Newspaper with supplement, "Picturing the Wick", by Dorley-Brown and Francesca Weber-Newth.

Films by Dorley-Brown

• BBC in the East End 1958–1973 (2007), for BBC / British Film Institute. Edited by Dorley-Brown.^[18] 3 hours long set of 2 DVDs and 40 page booklet with an essay by Tony White. Made on a BBC Creative Archive placement at the BBC Creative Archive Licence Group.^{[19] [20]}
• 15 Seconds Part 3 (2015), for Wellcome Collection.^[21]

Collections

Dorley-Brown's work is held in the following public collections:

• Museum of London, London.^[22]
• Richard and Ronay Menschel Library, George Eastman Museum, Rochester, New York: The Longest Way Round book.^[23]

Notes and References

1. News: On the road, 80s style. 13 April 2015 . 7 November 2017 . Sam . Wollaston . . London .
2. Web site: Chris Dorley-Brown: Foreign Exchange Winner. 21 March 2016 . 7 November 2017 . Brandon . Juhasz . Lenscratch .
3. News: Secret history: my father's hidden past at the hands of the Nazis – in pictures. 4 December 2015 . 7 November 2017 . . London .
4. Web site: Hackney in the 1980s, captured by Chris Dorley-Brown. 28 April 2015 . 9 November 2017 . Eliza . Williams . .
5. Web site: Angry drivers stuck in London traffic during the Eighties. 4 April 2016 . 7 November 2017 . Matt . Jones . .
6. Web site: Being Stuck in Traffic Never Looked So Good. 2 June 2015 . 7 November 2017 . David . Rosenberg . .
7. Web site: Nostalgia-packed photographs of drivers in the 1980s. 24 April 2015 . 7 November 2017 . Emily . Gosling . It's Nice That .
8. Web site: 15 Seconds: Part 3 by Chris Dorley-Brown: About. 9 November 2017 . .
9. http://www.modrex.com/CV_ChrisDorley-Brown.pdf{{Dead link|date=July 2020 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}
10. News: Composite Briton unveiled. 30 March 2001 . 7 November 2017 . Stuart . Millar . . London .
11. Web site: Continuum: Travel in Time Through Chris Dorley Brown's Photographs of London. 9 November 2017 . Fusionlab .
12. Web site: Continuum: Travel in Time through Chris Dorley Brown's Photographs of London: Chris Dorley Brown. 9 November 2017 . .
13. Web site: Me and my Cortina: drivers in the 1980s – in pictures . 13 April 2015. The Guardian.
14. Web site: A History of the East End, Chris Dorley Brown, book review: 'Stands out from the crowd'. 3 July 2024. Hackney Citizen.
15. Web site: The Cut: Jessie Brennan, Chris Dorley-Brown and Daniel Lehan. 9 November 2017 . Space .
16. Web site: Future Face: Image, identity, innovation . 9 November 2017 . .
17. "The Art of Dissent: Adventures in London's Olympic State", Marshgate Press. Accessed 9 November 2017
18. Web site: Chris Dorley-Brown: BBC in the East End 1958-1973. https://web.archive.org/web/20150101170918/http://www.bfi.org.uk/archive-collections/archive-projects/artist-archive/three-case-studies/chris-dorley-brown-bbc-east-end-1958-1973 . dead . 1 January 2015 . 7 November 2017 . .
19. Web site: Chris Dorley-Brown: Placement at BBC Creative Archive Licence Group . 9 November 2017 . . https://web.archive.org/web/20190306215346/http://www.interact.mmu.ac.uk/placements/profile.php?artist=21 . 6 March 2019 . dead .
20. Web site: Eastern Promise: An archive of BBC films and a new documentary about Gilbert & George record the changing social fabric of London's East End. 1 October 2007 . 9 November 2017 . .
21. Web site: 15 Seconds: Part 3 by Chris Dorley-Brown . 9 November 2017 . . https://web.archive.org/web/20170705093842/https://wellcomecollection.org/15seconds . 5 July 2017 . dead .
22. Web site: Pigment Print: Street Scene, Piccadilly, 2009. 7 November 2017 . .
23. Web site: The longest way round / Chris Dorley-Brown.. 7 November 2017 . .