P W Luton- a New Cross Photographer

Percy William Luton was a photographer in the early 20th century whose Carlton Studio was at 34 New Cross Road SE14.  Electoral Registers and Post Office Directories show that he was there from at least 1909 to 1930, with his wife Florence. 

Portraits taken by him show up on ebay and other sites, often with no information about the subject. Nevertheless they provide a window into the past and its fashions.

An exception to this anonymity is this photograph, from the US  Library of Congress  which includes the name J.Lemm as well as name and address of the photographer. Seemingly this is John Lemm, a wrestler and a weight lifter variously known as the “Swiss Mountaineer”, the  “Swiss Mountain Climber" and the "Swiss Hercules" (I think we can surmise he was from Switzerland). 

Lemm competed in Europe and the USA in the years leading up to the First World War, including for instance a contest in New York in 1911 and the Oxford Music Hall in London in 1909:

  

How Lemm came to be photographed in a New Cross studio is anybody's guess, but I wonder if there is any connection with this 1909 photo of the Swiss Gymnastic Society also taken by PW Luton. The London branch of this had its HQ off Shaftesbury Avenue in central London.

The  house at 34 New Cross Road still stands - the left hand building below. Along with its white painted neighbour at no.32,  it is a Grade II listed building as a good example of an early 19th century house of this type.

See previous posts:

More New Cross Faces from 1860s to 1900s

Victorian New Cross Studio Photos

Frederick Wiedhofft - New Cross Photographer

More New Cross Faces from 1860s to 1900s

As mentioned before, I periodically look on Ebay and similar sites for interesting local photos (the ones here are all currently on sale, click links for futher details). I am particularly fascinated by the products of photographers' studios, of which there were a number on the New Cross Road in the Victorian/Edwardian era.

The first photo here is of a finely whiskered gentleman photographed by C.Goulder, Artist and Photographer, 341 New Cross Road (ebay link). Seemingly Charles Goulder was operating there in 1867, and at other premies in Deptford in the same period.

Elsewhere online I found this card from the photographer:

Often with these images we don't know who the subject is. What makes this next one quite intriguing is that there is some information, as the photo was sent as a postcard by the young man pictured. The photographer's address can be made on the back as 251 New Cross Road - I believe the photographer to be R & J Foster who had studios here and at 21 London Road, Greenwich

The postcard was sent from Peckham, on 4 January 1913 to a Miss Selina Cowen, 130 St James Street, Burnley (ebay details). The message reads 'My dear Selina, I am sending you my photo wishing a Happy New Year [loving?] brother Bennett'

The 1911 census has Selina Cowen, then aged 10, living at this address as the adopted daughter of Aaron (a tailor shopkeeper) and Annie Cowen. Intriguingly all three are stated to have been born in Russia, the parents having become 'naturalized British subjects' in 1895.  I would speculate that they could have been Russian Jewish emigres, Cowen was sometimes adopted as an anglicised version of Cohen.

I couldn't find any trace of a Bennett Cowen from this time, though maybe if his sister was adopted they could have had different names. As a long shot, there was a Bennett Cohen of around the right age (born c.1898) living with his father Abraham Cohen, another Russian born tailor, in Leeds in 1901 and 1911 Census.

The final photograph was taken by P. Luton of 24 New Cross Road in 1909. It shows the Swiss Gymnastic Society, London (ebay) - one of a number of societies at the time for Swiss people based in the capital.

See previous posts:

Victorian New Cross Studio Photos

Frederick Wiedhofft - New Cross Photograper

What are you taking pictures of? - Lewisham '77 photo exhibition

As mentioned here before, there's a whole series of events led by Goldsmiths coming up in next couple of weeks to mark the 40th anniversary of the 'Battle of Lewisham'  when, on 13 August 1977, the far-right National Front (NF) attempted to march from New Cross to Lewisham town centre, leading to violent clashes with counter demonstrators and the police.


For the whole of August there will be a photography exhibition 'What are you taking pictures for?' in the Kingsway Corridor  of the Richard Hoggart Building at Goldsmiths (that's the main old building on Lewisham Way):


'For the first time, photographs documenting the events of 13 August 1977 are exhibited alongside ephemera and newly discovered archive material. This exhibition brings together striking images featured in radical photography journal Camerawork and rarely seen photographs taken by some of the most important photographers documenting life in Britain in the late 70s.

Featuring work by Mike Abrahams, Peter Marlow, Chris Schwartz, Syd Shelton, Chris Steele-Perkins, Homer Sykes, and Paul Trevor.

Opening event with drinks reception: 6pm on Thursday, 3 August. All welcome'.


Image below by Chris Schwartz, I think this is New Cross Road taken from Clifton Rise - building on left is New Cross House, the car place (The Motor Way Centre) opposite is on corner of Laurie Grove is now the Word Bookshop. Banners visible include a couple of anarchist ones ('Struggle' and 'Anarchist Black Cross - Oxford Group') and 'Socialist Challenge' (newspaper of the International Marxist Group).



 

Stan Firm inna Inglan at Tate Britain

 Tate Britain gallery is currently displaying 'Stan Firm inna Inglan: Black Diaspora in London, 1960s-1970s', featuring images by 'eight photographers who documented Black communities in London: Raphael Albert, Bandele 'Tex' Ajetunmobi, James Barnor, Colin Jones, Neil Kenlock, Dennis Morris, Syd Shelton and Al Vanedenberg'.

There are a number of outstanding South London images to be seen, including Syd Shelton's photographs from the New Cross/Lewisham anti-National Front protests of 1977...

A smoke bomb in New Cross Road, August 1977 © Syd Shelton

..and Neil Kenlock's early 1970s photographs of the British Black Panther movement, particularly in the Brixton area, including this one of girls with Black Panther bags.

© Neil Kenlock

Victorian New Cross Studio Photographs

Some more vintage studio photos from the New Cross area. Frustratingly there is no detail about the subjects, but they tell us plenty about London hair and clothes styles in late Victorian London.

The first  few were taken at R.F. Barnes's studio, Mortham House, Lewisham High Road, New Cross. According to Photo London, the full address was 144 Lewisham High Road, and the studio was opened by Robert Freeman Barnes in 1874. On his death in 1898, he was succeeded by his wife Matilda Sarah Barnes who kept the business going until 1907. So in all likelihood these photos were taken in the late 19th century.

An Indian resident (or visitor) in New Cross (some inconclusive discussion about him here)

The next two portraits of children were taken by A.C. Clements, 'artist and photographer' based at 3 Amersham Road. Albert Charles Clements (1865-1938) ran the studio there from 1887 to 1895.

Finally there's this finely bearded gentleman 'From Kirby's Studios, Peckham and New Cross'. The photographer was Theophilus Claudius Kirby (1829-1907). The Peckham studion was at 85 Hill Street (from 1879 - 1895) and the other studio at 346 New Cross Road  (from 1888 - 1891). So this photograph must have been taken in the 1888-1891 period.

(see previous post about Edwardian New Cross photgrapher, Frederick Wiedhofft)

Some of these photos are for sale on ebay, if you are interested

Eddie Mulholland - 1980s South London Photos

Some great 1980s London photographs at the Telegraph today, by their photographer Eddie Mulholland from his time at the South London Press back in the day.

There's David Bowie on a visit to Brixton (presumably his childhood home in Stansfield Road)...

The last days of Peek Freans biscuit factory in Bermondsey (it closed in 1989)...

And this one of armed siege which the photographer thought might be in Brockley.

Anyone recognise the location, bearing in mind it could be somewhere else entirely? Looks like it's on a hill with a church building in the background.

Check out the full set

A Love Letter to Deptford

Some good Deptford photos by Luke Overin at Vice, his 'Love letter to Deptford':

'When I was at art school, a tutor gave me a book titled Songs from the Shandy Valley – a collection of poems and illustrations paying homage to the characters that populated Deptford Market and Broadway in the early 1990s. The book fascinated me at that point, and years later I found myself living in the "Shandy Valley". Like many places in London back then, I think that Deptford was a write-off – a no-go zone for some. That's changed for many areas but I still feel that Deptford, particularly on a market day, resonates with an older London, a hidden yet anarchic corner of its ragged identity'.

(anybody got a copy of Songs from the Shandy Valley by the way? I haven't read it)

Frederick Wiedhofft - New Cross Photographer

I recently stumbled across a fine photograph Graeme Brooker posted on twitter with the caption '1920. New Cross. George & Nelly Rumble. My great-great aunt & uncle'. The photo was in a frame bearing the name 'F.Wiedhofft, 338 New Cross Road', and a quick search across family history and photography sites will locate many pictures attributed to this photographer.

His own life has been documented at a Wiedhofft family history site, so we know that Frederick Wiedhofft, the grandchild of German migrants, was born in Clerkenwell in 1854. He started off as an  'oil and colourman' in the 1870s, moving his business over the next 20 years from Grays Inn Road to Notting Hill and then Balls Pond Road in Dalston. An oil and colourman would have sold paints, lamp oil, etc.from their shop.  It wasn't until 1897 that he moved into photography, opening up a studio at 338 New Cross Road - where he was listed as living when he got married in 1899. Near to New Cross station, this has most recently been an Indian restaurant (Monsoon).

On the 29th July 1910 Frederick died of pneumonia at his then home at 358 Romford Rd. Forest Gate, but the business seems to have continued a while longer. In the 1914 Post Office directory the New Cross Road shop has been joined by two other branches in Holland Park and Junction Road in Islington. Photo London states that he was succeeded at the New Cross studio by Percy John Blackbeard. 

The picture above of George and Nelly Rumble has 'July 1920' written on the back so studio may have been going as long at that - though that date could have been written in error at a later date:

'F. Wiedhofft, Art Photographer'

"John James Pay, on his retirement from the Metropolitan Police June 12th 1910 after 25 years service"

A reference to the 'late J.J. Avery' -
Wiedhofft seems to have taken over his business in Holland Park

Deptford Dummies

We are standing here

Exposing ourselves

We are showroom dummies

We are showroom dummies

We're being watched

And we feel our pulse

We are showroom dummies

We are showroom dummies

We look around

And change our pose

We are showroom dummies

We are showroom dummies

We start to move

And we break the glass

We are showroom dummies

We are showroom dummies

We step out

And take a walk through the city

We are showroom dummies

We are showroom dummies

We go into a club

And there we start to dance

We are showroom dummies

We are showroom dummies

Lyrics: Kraftwerk - Showroom Dummies (1977);
images March 2014 (top: Abstractus, Deptford Broadway; bottom: window in Florence Road SE14)

'Jack Rags': a homeless man in Lewisham 1917

'Frederick Mark Burton, the renowned "out-door" resident of Lewisham, commonly known as 'Jack Rags' died January 30th 1917, aged 64 years'. Don't know any more about this character, but the photograph of seems to have been issued as a postcard which pops up from time to time on ebay. 'W F Lucas' was presumably the photographer.

 

South London Misty Mornings

Beautiful sunrise this morning, here's a few shots I found on twitter:

Peckham Rye in the mist from top of 78 bus (my photo)

Shooters Hill by James Morrow (@jimbo341)

Woolwich Arsenal by Major Draper

The Shard by @alexbrowna

Finally from yesterday an actual misty morning Albert Bridge

by HappyTaylor3050

'I dreamt we were standing

By the banks of the thames

Where the cold grey waters ripple

In the misty morning light

Held a match to your cigarette

Watched the smoke curl in the mist

Your eyes, blue as the ocean between us

Smiling at me...

Count the days

Slowly passing by

Step on a plane

And fly away

I'll see you then

As the dawnbirds sing

On a cold and misty morning

By the albert bridge'

Misty Morning Albert Bridge - The Pogues

(lyrics by Jem Finer)

Fall of the Berlin Wall Exhibition at New Cross Learning

Adrian Harris is a long standing local community/environmental activist. In November 1989 he was in Berlin at the momentous moment when the Wall came down. An exihibition of his photographs from that time are on display at New X Learning (283 New Cross Road) until 28 November, and Adrian will be giving a talk on Saturday 9th November from 4 to 5 pm.

The Berlin crowd, November 1989 © Adrian Harris

David Grandorge photography in Deptford

Now showing at the Peter von Kant gallery (25 Tanners Hill SE8), David  Grandorge's Without Sun. The core of the exihibition is a remarkable series of photographs taken at Svalbard Satellite Station in the Norwegian zone of the Arctic Ocean, where NASA, the European Space Agency and others have installations.

For those of us brought up on the space race (now they expect us to clean toilets), this is the architecture of Moonbase Alpha.  Images from the present that remind us of the past's dreams of the future - dare I used the word hauntological?  On a more mundane level, all these fantasies of space exploration are dragged back down to earth by the reality of places like these actually being used to help listen in to millions of people's phone calls.

images © David  Grandorge

The gallery is worth a visit in its own right. As featured here before, it is an early 17th century building and as part of its restoration the walls have been stripped back to original plaster work.

The exhibition is on until  7 December 2013, 

Thursday to Saturday 12–6 pm and by appointment 

Antenna Studios Cafe

I popped into the newish cafe at Antenna Studios in Crystal Palace a couple of weeks ago. The Studios have been going since 2002, primarily for music recording and rehearsal spaces, but also hosting all kinds of creative activity. The cafe is tucked away in Bowyers Yard in Haynes Lane  SE19 (walk past the indoor market and turn left), and as well as serving food and drink is being used to host exhibitions and fairly intimate gigs.

The next event is the RPM Club, a bring your own vinyl open decks night on Friday 1st March, 7.30-11 pm.

The cafe is currently being managed by Georgina Cook, the photographer best known for documenting the dubstep scene and for her Drumz of the South blog and events. She's written about the cafe as part of her great Valentine's Day love letter to South London.

Georgina has also started Mapping the Palace, where people are invited to share their thoughts, memories, ideas, inspiration, music and more related to the Crystal Palace area. The project includes an interactive Google Map where among other things you can see where Georgina took some of her iconic photographs for Burial.

Some community events

A couple of local events people have asked us to publicise:

Art Auction Fundraiser

From Niamh at the Hill Station Cafe, Kitto Road, SE14: 'I am holding a fundraiser art auction at the Hill Station to raise money for camera equipment for a new photography youth project i'm running. The show will include works from many local artists and we have Telegraph Hill's very own Sanjit Chundha as our auctioneer!'. The I-to-Eye project will be working with young people in London and in Sierra Leone. The event takes places on Saturday 16th February 2013.

Kids and adult volunteering day for building a community garden

'The Assembly is hosting a mums and kids-friendly volunteering day on Sun 3rd February to bring life to the Old Tidemill community garden in Deptford. Located in Frankham street, just off the Deptford library, counts a recently built tree house, a circular pond and theatre space.

Local families in Lewisham are invited to join cleaning, digging and planting seeds for the spring season. The Assembly aims to create a community space where kids can play and learn about plants, animals and design. Please wear suitable clothing for being outside and potentially getting a bit muddy.

Sunday 3rd February, 12pm to 4pm, Old Tidemill community garden, Frankham street SE8 4RN'.

Pepys Estate 1981

Last Saturday's Guardian came with a special booklet 'Photography: A Guardian Masterclass'. There was a photography competition to be on the front cover, and the winner was Rob Kenyon with a photograph taken on the Pepys Estate on Deptford.

It wasn't until I checked out the Guardian webiste that I realized that the photograph wasn't recent. Rob says: “This shot was taken at Eddystone House on the Pepys Estate in Deptford, south-east London. I was the photographer for the Albany Summer Playscheme just after the 1981 Brixton riots. We had just finished our two days on site, helping the local kids in their production: The Funky Riot, a musical on roller skates. As we were packing the van, I noticed this girl trying to go downstairs on her skates. I never got to find out who she was, or get her a print. I wish I could.”

Andy Worthington's Photographic Journey

Brockley-based writer and Guantanamo Bay campaigner Andy Worthington has set himself the task of cycling around every part of London and photographing what he comes across. He's already put up some fine images of Deptford, Blackheath, and a journey from Belmarsh to Plumstead, among others.

A tree on Hilly Fields by Andy Worthington

You can view the full sets so far on flickr.