Quaritch Presents "Roger Mayne - London & Paris" Exhibition

Roger Mayne - London & Paris brings together for the first time recently discovered vintage prints from the archive of the acclaimed post-war British photographer Roger Mayne.

The exhibition displays photographs that capture the vibrancy of 1950s and 1960s London. As well as prints from Roger Mayne’s acclaimed Southam Street series, the exhibition highlights those from the wider Notting Hill and North Kensington areas. These fascinatingly intimate images, with children playing and women chatting in doorways, record a London street life that has since disappeared. 

The Paris series features scenes which even those familiar with Roger Mayne’s work will not have seen and exhibit the strongest characteristics of his oeuvre in a new setting. 1950s schoolchildren in Montmartre and a concierge standing in slippers at a doorway are reminiscent of the subjects which Mayne had captured in London. They also nod to the French photographers whose work he so admired. 

These rare vintage prints, new to the market, were printed by Roger Mayne himself soon after the negatives were made. They are increasingly scarce as Mayne did not print in large numbers or numbered editions as is usual today.

Roger Mayne - London & Paris is the first photography exhibition held by Bernard Quaritch Ltd at 40 South Audley Street and offers a rare opportunity to visit on a Saturday, when the shop is usually closed. The photographs are exhibited alongside the antiquarian books which line the firm’s elegant front room.
 
Roger Mayne’s photographs are framed by the social issues of his time and regularly appeared on the covers of Penguin paperbacks. Titles include Children under Stress, Poverty: The Forgotten Englishmen, Because They’re Black and Anatomy of Prison. Copies of these books, and many others, accompany the exhibition.
 
In the present day, Roger Mayne’s photographs encourage us to reflect on the sea change childhood has undergone in the past sixty years. The post-war generation’s games and interactions are a far cry from the modern experience.
 
All photographs in the exhibition come directly from the Roger Mayne Archive and are for sale.