June 2016

East life
Photography: John Claridge
Child at Window
Photographer John Claridge talks to Isabelle Gerretsen about
his memories of the East End
John Claridge discovered his love of photography
while growing up in the East End. “I bought a
camera when I was eight with the money off me
paper round,” he tells me. “I had this need to
document my life and to take pictures of where
I lived.”
He was determined to achieve his dream from a
young age. “I remember a guy came into school
and asked us what we wanted to do. I told him:
‘I’m going to be a photographer.’ When he said
that it wasn’t easy to do, I said: ‘Yes it is. You just
get a camera and start taking pictures.’”
Claridge became East London’s most prolific
photographer and captured the bustling
atmosphere at the docks in his pictures. An
amateur boxer himself, he shot characterful
portraits of members of the London Ex-Boxers
Association. These photos bring to life his East
End and will be exhibited at Sophie Parkin’s
private members club Vout-o-Renees in June.
The photographs depict a very different area to
today’s East End. “The area has changed, without
a doubt,” Claridge says. “Corporate greed has
walked into this area and the beautiful character
has been chipped away. It’s sad.”
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