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| Photographer Lewis Morley donates archive to the nation | Photographer Lewis Morley donates archive to the nation |
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| The photographer Lewis Morley, the acclaimed chronicler of the outburst of cultural energy in Britain in the 1960s, who died in Australia last week, had donated an extraordinary archive of tens of thousands of his photographs and personal papers to a public collection in Britain, the Observer can reveal. | The photographer Lewis Morley, the acclaimed chronicler of the outburst of cultural energy in Britain in the 1960s, who died in Australia last week, had donated an extraordinary archive of tens of thousands of his photographs and personal papers to a public collection in Britain, the Observer can reveal. |
| In an unusual move for a major British photographer, Morley and his family and close friends spent years amassing his papers and images and preparing to transfer them to a publicly accessible collection in the UK, rather than consigning them to the open market for sale through auction houses around the world. | In an unusual move for a major British photographer, Morley and his family and close friends spent years amassing his papers and images and preparing to transfer them to a publicly accessible collection in the UK, rather than consigning them to the open market for sale through auction houses around the world. |
| The National Media Museum, based in Bradford, was chosen by Morley and his advisers as the most suitable home for his archive, in preference to academic collections mainly in the US. The transfer of the collection, much of which is currently in Australia and America, to West Yorkshire is expected to be completed within weeks. | The National Media Museum, based in Bradford, was chosen by Morley and his advisers as the most suitable home for his archive, in preference to academic collections mainly in the US. The transfer of the collection, much of which is currently in Australia and America, to West Yorkshire is expected to be completed within weeks. |
| It comprises an extraordinarily detailed account, in pictures and words, of a fraught and flamboyant era in British social history. | It comprises an extraordinarily detailed account, in pictures and words, of a fraught and flamboyant era in British social history. |
| Morley took one of the world's most famous and widely emulated photographs – of a naked Christine Keeler astride a chair at the height of the Profumo scandal in 1963. Personal papers relating to that shoot, and correspondence with Keeler, are among the Morley archive material. | Morley took one of the world's most famous and widely emulated photographs – of a naked Christine Keeler astride a chair at the height of the Profumo scandal in 1963. Personal papers relating to that shoot, and correspondence with Keeler, are among the Morley archive material. |
| Morley died last Tuesday at his home in Sydney, aged 88. He had photographed most, if not all, of the key figures at the heart of the burgeoning art, journalism, fashion and media scenes in Britain, as the nation stumbled from the conservative 1950s into a heady, unprecedented epoch of satire, irreverence and subversive creativity. | Morley died last Tuesday at his home in Sydney, aged 88. He had photographed most, if not all, of the key figures at the heart of the burgeoning art, journalism, fashion and media scenes in Britain, as the nation stumbled from the conservative 1950s into a heady, unprecedented epoch of satire, irreverence and subversive creativity. |
| The Morley archive – which contains tens of thousands of prints, negatives and contact sheets, and a large amount of personal correspondence, notebooks and technical notes – had been meticulously prepared over several years by Morley, his family and a close friend, the American photography curator and authority David Knaus. Morley was horrified at the prospect of his life's work and his papers being auctioned off after his death, and wanted as much as possible to be entrusted to an academic or cultural institution in Britain, accessible by the public, said Knaus. | The Morley archive – which contains tens of thousands of prints, negatives and contact sheets, and a large amount of personal correspondence, notebooks and technical notes – had been meticulously prepared over several years by Morley, his family and a close friend, the American photography curator and authority David Knaus. Morley was horrified at the prospect of his life's work and his papers being auctioned off after his death, and wanted as much as possible to be entrusted to an academic or cultural institution in Britain, accessible by the public, said Knaus. |
| "The Lewis Morley archive is a major cultural asset that any institution would be thrilled to acquire," Michael Terwey, head of collections and exhibitions at the National Media Museum, said. "The archive's full scope and significance goes beyond individual photographs or decades." Morley's work in the 1960s captured the first flowering of an amazingly rich crop of talent. As well as models such as Jean Shrimpton and Twiggy, he pictured satirists including Peter Cook, Dudley Moore, Jonathan Miller and Alan Bennett, and the comedian Barry Humphries as well as the circle that formed around the radical new magazine Private Eye, and Cook's Soho club, the Establishment. | "The Lewis Morley archive is a major cultural asset that any institution would be thrilled to acquire," Michael Terwey, head of collections and exhibitions at the National Media Museum, said. "The archive's full scope and significance goes beyond individual photographs or decades." Morley's work in the 1960s captured the first flowering of an amazingly rich crop of talent. As well as models such as Jean Shrimpton and Twiggy, he pictured satirists including Peter Cook, Dudley Moore, Jonathan Miller and Alan Bennett, and the comedian Barry Humphries as well as the circle that formed around the radical new magazine Private Eye, and Cook's Soho club, the Establishment. |
| He also photographed, with an uncanny awareness of star potential, young actors such as Michael Caine, Peter O'Toole and Charlotte Rampling, and playwright Joe Orton. Fellow photographer David Bailey was caught by Morley in a paparazzi-style shot, looking furious at the intrusion, as Bailey chatted with Catherine Deneuve in a London club. | He also photographed, with an uncanny awareness of star potential, young actors such as Michael Caine, Peter O'Toole and Charlotte Rampling, and playwright Joe Orton. Fellow photographer David Bailey was caught by Morley in a paparazzi-style shot, looking furious at the intrusion, as Bailey chatted with Catherine Deneuve in a London club. |
| But it was for a single, 30-minute session photographing a model called Christine Keeler, in his one-room studio above Cook's Establishment club in Soho in 1963, that Morley made his name. One shot from that session of just 36 photographs would become one of the most widely recognised images in photographic history. Although he had inadvertently created the most famous image of the era, Morley – whose prodigious talents extended into journalistic work, innovative fashion shoots, painting and sculpture – came to resent the power of that one image to overshadow his other work, referring to it in later life as "that fucking Keeler shot". Morley's photographic work includes fine reportage, with his pictures of the 1968 anti-Vietnam war demonstration in Grosvenor Square, London, especially acclaimed by curators. | But it was for a single, 30-minute session photographing a model called Christine Keeler, in his one-room studio above Cook's Establishment club in Soho in 1963, that Morley made his name. One shot from that session of just 36 photographs would become one of the most widely recognised images in photographic history. Although he had inadvertently created the most famous image of the era, Morley – whose prodigious talents extended into journalistic work, innovative fashion shoots, painting and sculpture – came to resent the power of that one image to overshadow his other work, referring to it in later life as "that fucking Keeler shot". Morley's photographic work includes fine reportage, with his pictures of the 1968 anti-Vietnam war demonstration in Grosvenor Square, London, especially acclaimed by curators. |
| Years after the Keeler shot, he would make his own exasperated comment on its global fame by photographing himself in the Keeler pose, astride a chair – but with a millstone around his neck. That photograph has never been seen in public. Although he came to despair of his Keeler image, Morley restaged it in the 1960s with sitters including David Frost (whose suggestion it had been to re-create the shot), Orton and, later, Humphries as Dame Edna Everage. Morley personally authorised some 100 recreations of that shot. In 2006 he recalled the Keeler shoot. "She didn't turn me on," he said. "There was no connection. When people copy it, it's usually without wit or charm. But when I see that pose shot imaginatively, I applaud." | Years after the Keeler shot, he would make his own exasperated comment on its global fame by photographing himself in the Keeler pose, astride a chair – but with a millstone around his neck. That photograph has never been seen in public. Although he came to despair of his Keeler image, Morley restaged it in the 1960s with sitters including David Frost (whose suggestion it had been to re-create the shot), Orton and, later, Humphries as Dame Edna Everage. Morley personally authorised some 100 recreations of that shot. In 2006 he recalled the Keeler shoot. "She didn't turn me on," he said. "There was no connection. When people copy it, it's usually without wit or charm. But when I see that pose shot imaginatively, I applaud." |
| Speaking to the Observer, Humphries recalled his close friend and his work. "It's an incredibly rich archive. He was a hot snapper … a great photographer. He was asked to take photographs of me for my appearance at the Establishment club. | Speaking to the Observer, Humphries recalled his close friend and his work. "It's an incredibly rich archive. He was a hot snapper … a great photographer. He was asked to take photographs of me for my appearance at the Establishment club. |
| "He was a real photographer. In other words, he didn't just operate a machine. His work was a real interpretation of character. He was a very engaging, and rather exotic, figure. Very tall, always wearing black. Very charming and very knowledgeable about literature and music, a broad cultivation," he said. | "He was a real photographer. In other words, he didn't just operate a machine. His work was a real interpretation of character. He was a very engaging, and rather exotic, figure. Very tall, always wearing black. Very charming and very knowledgeable about literature and music, a broad cultivation," he said. |
| "He was the house photographer for what was later called the satire movement – which was quite fun. I was photographed on that Keeler chair naked – or Dame Edna was photographed straddling it. I recall a frisson when he was taking the picture, but I can't exactly describe the nature of it. It was a, er, 'complex' frisson. That photograph of Christine Keeler does bring out the vulnerability of her, though. Vulnerable, Edna isn't." | "He was the house photographer for what was later called the satire movement – which was quite fun. I was photographed on that Keeler chair naked – or Dame Edna was photographed straddling it. I recall a frisson when he was taking the picture, but I can't exactly describe the nature of it. It was a, er, 'complex' frisson. That photograph of Christine Keeler does bring out the vulnerability of her, though. Vulnerable, Edna isn't." |
| Knaus said giving the collection to the National Media Museum sets a non-profit precedent for other photographers and artists to follow. "It's an unusual move, as the UK has not collected an archive in this way. This is a proper archive. Fifty years from now someone could go back in and look and creatively dissect Lewis's life from his correspondence, letters, work prints, printing notes, all that stuff. Correspondence with Christine Keeler, all that is going in there. It's a big deal," he said. | Knaus said giving the collection to the National Media Museum sets a non-profit precedent for other photographers and artists to follow. "It's an unusual move, as the UK has not collected an archive in this way. This is a proper archive. Fifty years from now someone could go back in and look and creatively dissect Lewis's life from his correspondence, letters, work prints, printing notes, all that stuff. Correspondence with Christine Keeler, all that is going in there. It's a big deal," he said. |
| "The gifts that make up much of the archive have been made from a variety of private individuals and collectors in America – there is one lead donor, who doesn't want to be identified. None of them are benefiting financially. There's no money changing hands." | "The gifts that make up much of the archive have been made from a variety of private individuals and collectors in America – there is one lead donor, who doesn't want to be identified. None of them are benefiting financially. There's no money changing hands." |
| Snubbing the art-market speculators was high on Morley's list of priorities, as he entered his final years. "I laugh, as within two days of Lewis's death we were bombarded with emails from people wanting to buy the Keeler shot, wanting to buy Morley pictures," said Knaus. | Snubbing the art-market speculators was high on Morley's list of priorities, as he entered his final years. "I laugh, as within two days of Lewis's death we were bombarded with emails from people wanting to buy the Keeler shot, wanting to buy Morley pictures," said Knaus. |
| Morley was interviewed recently. "I'm in my twilight years," he said. "The big darkroom in the sky is waiting for me." | Morley was interviewed recently. "I'm in my twilight years," he said. "The big darkroom in the sky is waiting for me." |