Chris Dorley-Brown

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.^[3][4] Since 1993 he has collaborated with other people on a variety of projects in radio, print, cinema, television, Internet and architecture.^[3]

His photography books include The Longest Way Round (2015),^[5] Drivers in the 1980s (2015)^[4][6][7][8] 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.^[9] He trained as a silkscreen printer and print finisher after leaving school.^[2] 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.^[3][2][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."^[9]

In 1991, he expanded into filmmaking and other activities associated with burgeoning new technologies.^[2][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.^[3]

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. ISBN 9780994791900.
• Drivers in the 1980s. East London Photo Stories Book 6. London: Hoxton Mini Press, 2015. ISBN 978-0-9576998-9-2.^[13]
• The Corners. London: Hoxton Mini Press, 2018. ISBN 978-1-910566-32-9.
• A History of the East End. France: Noveau Palais. 2024. ISBN 978-2-957207-24-4.^[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. ISBN 978-1-910566-31-2. Edition of 3000 copies. Second edition; ISBN 978-1-910566-31-2.

Publications with contributions by Dorley-Brown

• Scarpe: Moda e Fantasia = Shoes: Fashion and Fantasy. Milan: Rizzoli, 1990. Edited by Colin McDowell and Manolo Blahnik. ISBN 9788817241823. With a preface by Blahnik.
• Photographers London: 1839-1994. London: Museum of London, 1995. Edited by Mike Seaborne. ISBN 978-0904818505.
• Future Face: Image, Identity, Innovation. London: Profile; Wellcome Trust; Science Museum, 2003. By Sandra Kemp. ISBN 978-1861977687. 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. ISBN 978-0500287323 / Faire faces: Le nouveau portrait photographique. France: Actes Sud, 2004. ISBN 9782742764167.
• Photography Reborn: Image Making in the Digital Era. New York City: Abrams, 2006. Edited by Jonathan Lipkin. ISBN 9780810992443.
• London Street Photography: 1860–2010. London: Museum of London; Stockport: Dewi Lewis, 2011. ISBN 978-1907893032. 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. ISBN 978-0957294301.^[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]