A WORLD APART - Curator talk

Four Corners' autumn exhibition captures a unique moment of change in London’s East End.

As the docks closed, and wholesale slum clearance replaced old neighbourhoods, many communities were being transformed beyond recognition. Yet a different East End was also coming into being, as new migrant communities created a space for themselves.

­­A new generation of photographers were drawn to document ordinary people’s lives and give visibility to working-class experiences. They showed their photographs in everyday spaces where local people could view images of themselves and their own communities.

The exhibition features remarkable photographs by Ron McCormick and the Exit Photography collective of Nicholas Battye, Diane Bush, Alex Slotzkin, and Paul Trevor, alongside work by Ian Berry, John Donat, David Hoffman, Jessie Ann Matthew, Dennis Morris, Val Perrin, and Ray Rising.

Carla Mitchell is the curator for A WORLD APART, and works as the Artistic Development Director at Four Corners. The talk will last for approximately half an hour, followed by questions and discussion with exhibition visitors.

This talk is part of the A WORLD APART: Photographing change in London's East End, 1970-76 exhibition programme.

Image: Brick Lane in the early 1970s © Val Perrin