This archive, recently acquired by the Museum of London, paints a vibrant portrait of 1950’s post-war London, featuring days at the lido, street sweepers going about their business and iconic images of Battersea Power Station. 

Frederick James Wilfred was born in Islington in 1925. He served in a tank regiment in India during the war, and lived in and around Richmond, Twickenham and Teddington until his death in 2010. During the 1950s, Wilfred worked as Chief Photographer for Hawker Siddeley Aviation for whom he shot still images and Cinefilm of the early flying trials of the Hawker P1127 Kestrel (later renamed the Harrier). He also flew in the extra English Electric Lightning aircraft in the RAF Formation Flying Team, to record a pilots eye view of their aerobatic programme - somehow managing to shoot using a 5x4 plate camera as well as Cinefilm and Leica stills while the aircraft was pulling High G manoeuvres.

Later in life, Wilfred owned a camera shop near Hampton Court and then in 1963 opened his own commercial and portrait studio in Hampton Hill, which he kept until his retirement in 1990. In 1985, he dropped the commercial side of his work to focus more on wedding and portraiture projects for which he won numerous awards.

Wilfred’s son Russell, an avid photographer himself, has undertaken the enormous task of ordering and scanning his father’s extensive archive, and so it is thanks to him that these evocative and historic images are now available for everyone to enjoy.
www.frederickwilfred.com

THE EXHIBITION

The festival is proud to present this newly-discovered archive for the very first time and in partnership with the Museum of London. Wilfred lived and breathed photography for most of his life and we pay tribute to this largely unknown photographer by recognising his rare and insightful portrait of post-war London with an exhibition in the Entrance Hall of the Museum of London.

The Museum of London has a number of photography exhibitions on during the summer, so it is well worth a visit.

This exhibition is preceded by Sleep Walk, Sleep Talk - Suki Chan from 1 Feb to 10 June.

A GREAT BOOK OF LONDON STREET PHOTOGRAPHY:

London Street Photography 1860-2010 (Museum of London) - Dewi Lewis Publishing (18 Feb 2011)

Back to Diary

• 
  
• 
  
• 
  Images © Frederick James Wilfred
• 
  Museum of London