See Incredible Images Of Young People In 1950s-1960s London (And Beyond) At The Courtauld's First Ever Photography Exhibition

By Sponsor

Last Updated 01 July 2024

Sponsor See Incredible Images Of Young People In 1950s-1960s London (And Beyond) At The Courtauld's First Ever Photography Exhibition

This is a sponsored article on behalf of The Courtauld Gallery.

Men and Boys, Southam Street, London , 1959 Vintage gelatin silver print, 18.5 x 27 Courtesy the Roger Mayne Archive

Children playing in a bombed-out Bermondsey building. Teddy Girls striking a pose at Battersea Funfair. A teen jiving on a now-demolished street in North Kensington. These are just some of the subjects immortalised in the work of self-taught British photographer Roger Mayne. This summer, you've got the chance to see 60 of his images — some of which have never been on public display before — at The Courtauld Gallery's first ever photography exhibition.

Teddy Girls, Battersea Funfair , 1956 Vintage gelatin silver print 58.3 x 43.8cm Courtesy Victoria & Albert Museum

Roger Mayne: Youth reassesses the photographer's importance, through the lens of his black and white photographs of children and young people. Many of these were taken during the late 1950s and early 1960s in London, including the work for which he is perhaps best known: his documentation of children in Southam Street, which was later demolished as part of a slum clearance programme.

A Girl Jiving in Southam Street (Eileen Sheekey) , London, 1957 Vintage gelatin silver print 36.5 x 25.2cm Courtesy Victoria & Albert Museum

The exhibition — and its accompanying catalogue — casts Roger Mayne as a key figure in the emergence of documentary photography as an art form in post-war Britain. On top of his iconic street photography, though, The Courtauld Gallery will also be displaying an almost entirely unknown collection of images from later in his career, including shots of his own family taken in Dorset, and on his honeymoon in Spain (curator Jane Alison put the exhibition together in close collaboration with Mayne's daughter, Katkin Tremayne).

Girl in a Market, Almunecar, Costa del Sol , 1962 Vintage gelatin silver print mounted on board 59.5 x 91.5cm Courtesy the Roger Mayne Archive

Roger Mayne: Youth is at The Courtauld in Somerset House now, running until 1 September 2024. Your ticket includes entry to both the exhibition and the gallery's permanent collection, where you'll find paintings, drawings, prints, sculpture and decorative arts ranging from the Renaissance through to the 20th century. The gallery's remarkable group of Impressionist and Post-Impressionist paintings are especially worth a look, with world-famous works like Édouard Manet's A Bar at the Folies Bergère, and Self-Portrait with Bandaged Ear by Vincent van Gogh, as well as the most significant collection of works by Cézanne in the UK.

Henry Moore Tube Shelter Perspective 1941. Pencil, wax crayon, coloured crayon, watercolour and wash on paper. Henry Moore Foundation

On top of all that, it's a fantastic chance to see The Courtauld's temporary display Vanessa Bell: A Pioneer of Modern Art, which features the Bloomsbury Group artist's masterpiece A Conversation, alongside other paintings, a woodcut and bold, abstract textile designs. Be sure to also check out Henry Moore: Shadows on the Wall while you're here, too. This temporary exhibition showcases haunting sketches made by sculptor Henry Moore, inspired by the scenes of Londoners seeking refuge in Underground stations during the Blitz.

Both are sticking around until the early autumn and are included with your ticket price— coupled with Roger Mayne: Youth, they comprise The Courtauld's fantastic Summer of Art programme. Book your tickets today.