Nigel Henderson’s Streets: Photographs of London’s East End 1949–53

Nigel Henderson (1917–1985) was a British artist and photographer whose work has been compared to that of Cartier-Bresson and Brassaï. The son of Wyn Henderson, who managed the famous Guggenheim Jeune gallery, he became acquainted with leading figures in modern art, including Max Ernst and Marcel Duchamp. While living in Bethnal Green, east London, he created an extraordinary archive of photography documenting life in the area between 1949 and 1953. This beautiful book showcases 150 of these newly digitized photographs, which capture the heart of working-class London life. From children playing hopscotch to a funeral cortège to street parties celebrating the 1953 coronation, Henderson’s unique view of the streets evokes the wit, resilience, and character of the local people as it documents a fast-disappearing way of life.