Lorenzo Grifantini - Sea Beasts
Chris Dorley Brown is a photographer and social documentarist. He has recorded the changing face of London for over 40 years, particularly his native East End.
In his latest project, Near Dark, his pictures of dusk and dawn evoke a mythical London, a city of empirical grandeur, greed and acquisition, aspiration and desperation, commerce and opportunity, of triumphs and catastrophic failures. The dark spaces are loaded with histories as much as uncertain futures.
Very detailed and shot in super high-resolution composite format, the photos explore decaying modernism, post-industrial landscapes, council estates in a fugue state of sleep and serenity, monumental London landmarks wreathed in a painterly haze.
The images have been made over the last ten years during which the east end of London has experienced Olympic euphoria through to pandemic and chaotic government policies. Near Dark ventures into a mysterious territory, reflecting a less harmonious city mood, a fever dream of anxiety and unpredictability. London is just as alluring as ever but now everyone is taking shelter, keeping out of sight.
Since 1984 Chris has been documenting east London. Concentrating on social housing, public places, hospitals, workplaces, and architecture he has since established a substantial archive of colour photographs. He has exhibited internationally, and published several books including The Corners and The History of the East End.