Not currently on display at the V&A

Ship's Company

Photograph
1960s (photographed)
Artist/Maker
Place of origin

John Drysdale grew up in East Africa acquiring an early interest in both photography and animals. He trained at Guildford School of Art in England in the early 1950s and worked as an assistant to Cecil Beaton taking the official photos of the Coronation of Queen Elizabeth II. Whilst undertaking this, he began taking candid photographs of children in the streets of London.

His work is very diverse, ranging from fashion and advertising to photojournalism, yet this never stood in the way of his studies of children or interest in animals. This particular photograph comes from part of the 'Adventure Playground series'. Drysdale lives and work in London although his photographs are published all over the world, and is known for his pictures of unusual inter-species bonding and of children.


Object details

Categories
Object type
TitleShip's Company (assigned by artist)
Materials and techniques
Photograph on paper
Brief description
Black and white photograph of a group of children in a boat by John Drysdale, taken in the 1960s
Physical description
Black and white landscape photograph with a white border. The photograph shows a group of children sitting in a boat located in a park surrounded by a brick wall and some houses. Most of the children are in the boat, though two are depicted running around outside it and picking up more wood for the boat.
Dimensions
  • Height: 33cm
  • Width: 40cm
Marks and inscriptions
'John Drysdale / Copyright photograph: John Drysdale / 1, South Close, Barnet, Herts, EN5 5TP / United Kingdom / Tel +44(0) 20 8440 2969 / email john@johndrysdale.com / Reference No: 400047-25' (signature and label on the back of photograph)
Credit line
Given by John Drysdale
Summary
John Drysdale grew up in East Africa acquiring an early interest in both photography and animals. He trained at Guildford School of Art in England in the early 1950s and worked as an assistant to Cecil Beaton taking the official photos of the Coronation of Queen Elizabeth II. Whilst undertaking this, he began taking candid photographs of children in the streets of London.

His work is very diverse, ranging from fashion and advertising to photojournalism, yet this never stood in the way of his studies of children or interest in animals. This particular photograph comes from part of the 'Adventure Playground series'. Drysdale lives and work in London although his photographs are published all over the world, and is known for his pictures of unusual inter-species bonding and of children.
Collection
Accession number
B.243-2009

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Record createdMarch 9, 2010
Record URL
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