The English at Home : 20th Century Photographs from the Hyman Collection

Lovely exhibition at the Centre for British Photography looking at the place of the home in British photography over the last century.

The  show takes its title from Bill Brandt’s first book “The English at Home” in 1935 and traces a line from there to the present day.

I was pleased to recognise a number of the photographers from previous exhibitions. i particularly love this sort of documentary photography. The show was both a history of photography but also of housing and interiors.

I spent a lot of time looking at Karen Knorr’s pictures of people and interiors of Belgravia taken from 1979-80 with their ironic inscriptions. They made an interesting contrast to the earlier images mainly of working-class areas. My favourites were a series of pictures of all the living rooms in a street by Daniel Meadows and Martin Parr from 1973. I loved Martin Parr’s work but these were new to me. It was funny trying to explain 1970s décor to my younger, Swedish companion.

Closes 23 April 2023

 

 

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