photography and more photography....

Peter Marshall


I first studied photography as a short course during my teacher training year in 1970-71, making use also of the opportunity to study media studies, film studies and gain practical experience behind a television camera! As my interest in photography grew I learnt much from books on the subject. My first published photographs were a portfolio on Paris which appeared in a photographic magazine in 1973; since then I have had work in many books, newspapers and magazines. A vital stimulus to further thought about the medium was given by working with Raymond Moore at a number of workshops in the mid 70's.

I have also taken an interest in the history of photography, and in particular in the use of historic processes such as platinum and salt printing. Work by me in these and related media was exhibited in several shows connected with the celebration of one hundred and fifty years of photography. It is a slightly daunting experience to see your platinum print hung next to one by Frederick Evans! I have also written a few articles related to the history of photography and led various practical workshops, both on various aspects of alternative processes and on the work of photographers such as Man Ray.

I have been involved with several groups of photographers over the years. I was one of the founder members of Framework, a pionering UK group of independent photographers until its demise in 1993; together we organised around 20 group exhibitions almost all of which included some of my work. (Among many UK photographers to exhibit with Framework were Terry King, Carol Hudson, John RT Davies, Derek Ridgers and Jo Spence.) My work was also included in various other group shows including a number of open exhibitions.

I was also a member of London Documentary Photographers taking part in all their group exhibitions (1988-95). Since the mid 1980's I have been working on an extensive and unfinished project to photograph all aspects of London.

Until 1999 I taught photography and computer studies full-time in further education near my home 20 miles to the west of London. I left full-time teaching to concentrate on photography and writing, mainly for the web site ‘About Photography’, part of the New York Times group, from 1999-2007, as well as various web sites showing my own photography, particularly My London Diary, the Urban Landscape Photography site and the >Re:PHOTO blog. I have curated several photography and art shows in London and lectured on photography at festivals in Poland and Brazil.

Writing

From 1999-2007 I wrote a photography site for About.com, producing over 400 major features on photographers and the history of photography, as well as technical matters, including much on digital photography. Unfortunately this material is no longer available on line. I now write mainly for my own blog, >Re:PHOTO ("ray-photo").

Major Projects

Minor Sequence (1978-81)
Still Occupied - A View of Hull (1978-83)
Paris Revisited (1984) A homage to Atget
Along the Lea (1983-4) A study of landscape and industry along London's second river
South of the River (1982-6) Industry and its impact on Thameside
Docklands (1983-4) London's derelict docklands and their reclamation
Family Album (1976-83) A study of family relationships: excerpts available on
German Indications (1985) Text and pictures examine German culture
Cafe Ideal, Cool Blondes and Paradise (1986-93) Colour work in London
Docklands Light Railway (1992) Black and white panoramas
Docklands Panoramas (1993) Colour
On the Buses (1991-2) Passengers on London's buses
Notting Hill Carnival (1991-)
City of London (1983-4) Colour Panoramas
London Protests (1977-) Includes Gay Pride march pictures on Fixing Shadows, Reclaim the Streets '96 and Pure Genius '97
Meridian (1995) Panoramas taken along the Greenwich Meridian
Lea Valley and Olympic 2012 Site Work from 1980-current which extends the earlier 'Along the Lea'.
My London Diary A large web presentation of work from events in London and some other material
Thames Gateway Panoramic and digital work in the area around the lower Thames.

Several hundred of my pictures of London buildings and artifacts have been purchased for the collection of the Royal Commission on Historical Monuments in England. The Museum of London has around a hundred of my pictures and others are in public and private collections.

One-person shows:

Still Occupied - A View of Hull, Ferens Art Gallery, Hull 1983.
Paris Revisited, Spelthorne College 1986.
London Pride 1993-7, Museum of London, 1998.
Shepperton Ladies Cricket Club, Staines Library, Staines, Middx. (Arts Council/Spelthorne Council commission), 2001
Southwark. Living Space Forum, London, 2003
London’s Industrial Heritage. FotoArtFestival, Beilsko-Biala, Poland, 2005
Queer is Here - 10 Years of Gay Pride, Museum of London, 2006 (and touring)
Environmental Protest in London, Foto Arte 2007, Brasilia, Brazil, Dec2007-Jan 2008
1989, London International Documentary Festival,The Hub, King's Cross, London, 2010
Secret Gardens of St John's Wood, Queens Terrace Café , London, 2011
In Protest, Shoreditch Gallery, The Juggler, Hoxton, 2012

Selected Group Exhibitions:

Group Six (six shows 1982-5), various venues
Framework (seven shows 1986-91), various venues
Brunel Photo-Shows (three years)
Building Centre Trust Photo-Exhibitions 1987,1988
Transport in London The Museum of London 1992
The City of London Project The Barbican Library, London 1993
London Documentary Photographers Swiss Cottage Library, London 1994
Street Photography Tabernacle Gallery, London 1995
Photographers’ London 1839-1945, Museum of London 1995
Four On London, Barbican Library London, 1999
City Of Walls, City Of People (curator and exhibitor), The Gallery, Clerkenwell, London, 2001
Café Life (curator and exhibitor), Shoreditch Gallery, The Juggler, Hoxton, 1995
River (curator and exhibitor), Shoreditch Gallery, The Juggler, Hoxton, 1996
City People (curator and exhibitor), Shoreditch Gallery, The Juggler, Hoxton, 1997
Another London (with Paul Baldesare and Mike Seaborne), Kingston Museum, 2007
English Carnival (with Paul Baldesare, David Trainer and Bob Watkins), Shoreditch Gallery, The Juggler, Hoxton and Barbican Library, London, 2008
Roof Unit Foundations, Space Gallery, Hackney, Nov-Dec 2007
NUJ ‘100 Years 100 Photographs’, Online and touring show, 2007
NUJ ‘Photography Matters’, Online and touring show, 2009
Taken in London (with Paul Baldesare), Shoreditch Gallery, 2009
1989: a fictional walk in London (20 pictures and texts) London International Documentary festival, 2010
Paris – New York – London (with Paul Baldesare & John Benton-Harris), Shoreditch Gallery, 2010
East of the City (with Paul Baldesare), Shoreditch Gallery, 2011
London Street Photography, Museum of London, 2011
Before the Olympics, Short stories from an autonomous space, Workshop Coffee, London, 2013
Estuary, Museum of London Docklands, 2013
City Streets and River Paths (with Hilary Rosen), University College Hospital, 2014
We Are the Landscape, The Russet, Hackney, London, 2014
Secret Rivers, Museum of London Docklands, 2019

Selected Publications

Creative Camera International Collection 5, 1978, p184-5
British Journal of Photography Annual, 1988, p126-7
Photographer's London 1839-94 p282-3
Professional Photography: Photographing Buildings
. Rotovision, 2001
FotoArtFestival 2005 catalogue, Bielsko-Biala, Poland
The Romance of Bethnal Green, Cathy Ross, with photographs by Peter Marshall, 2007
Foto Arte 2007 catalogue, Brasilia, 2007
Stop The War, A Graphic History, 2011

Magazines in which my work has appeared include:
Amateur Photographer, British Journal of Photography,
Creative Camera, Inscape, Practical Photography,
South East Arts Review....
Notting Hill in Carnival, George Mentore (text) and Peter Marshall (20 pictures), in Visual Anthropology Review, Vol 15 No 1, p45-69 and cover, 1999.

Self-Published Books (most also available as PDFs):

1989: 20 Photographs – 2010
Photo Paris: 1988 - 2010
Before the Olympics: The Lea Valley 1981-2010 - 2010
Still Occupied: A View of Hull 1977-85 – 2011
2006: My London Diary – 2011
Secret Gardens of St John's Wood – 2011
In Search of Atget: Paris 1984 – 2011
London's May Queens – 2012
London Dérives - 2013
Thamesgate Panoramas - 2012
London Docklands Series, Vols 1-5 – 2013-5
Class War: Rich Door, Poor Door – 2015
Lower Thameside, Vols 1-3 – 2015-6
German Indications – 2016
Canal Walks - 2016

Web Sites:

My London Diary http://mylondondiary.co.uk/
>Re:PHOTO http://re-photo.co.uk
London's Industrial Heritage: http://petermarshallphotos.co.uk/
The Buildings of London etc: http://londonphotographs.co.uk/
River Lea/Lee Valley 1980-2010 http://river-lea.co.uk/
Urban Landscapes http://urbanlandscape.org.uk
Peter Marshall: Paris Pictures http://peter-marshall.com

Curation

I curated (and also took part) in 4 shows for London Arts Café:
Cities of Walls, Cities of People The Gallery, Cowcross St, London EC1 Nov-Dec 2001
Café Life The Juggler, Hoxton Market, October 2005
The River, The Juggler, Hoxton Market, November 2006
City People, The Juggler, Hoxton Market, October 2007

Lectures

As well as talking about my own work I have also given a number of public lectures and workshops on photography, including:
Man Ray Workshop: Clerkenwell/Barbican (in conjunction with the Man Ray show there)
Docklands Workshop (several dates, for London Independent Photography and London Arts Café)
Urban Photography Workshop (Limehouse), London Arts Café, 2005
Ray Jones and Ray Moore. FotoArt Festival 2005, Bielsko-Biala, Poland, June 2005
My London Friends FotoArt Festival 2005, Bielsko-Biala, Poland, June 2005
On English Streets FotoArt Festival 2007, Bielsko-Biala, Poland, Oct 2007
Photography and the Urban Environment, Foto Arte 2007, Brasilia, Brazil. Dec 2007
The Romance of Bethnal Green (with Cathy Ross), Museum of London, 2008


I feel it important for me as a photographer to record the society in which I live and the way it changes.
Much of my work which is not pictures of people concentrates on the vernacular.


Comments to the photographer

Home Page