A View from the North – Denis Thorpe
Private view -Wednesday 5th December
4.00-7.00pm – until 5th January
Denis Thorpe might be Britain’s best-loved newspaper photographer; a photojournalist with an endless supply of energy, compassion and visual wit, above all driven by the desire to tell people’s stories using the light, shape and form of what was in front of him. He brought a new level of respectfulness, care and intimacy to newspaper photography; timeless images that felt effortless were in fact the product of hard work, attention to detail and technical mastery. 2018 marks 70 years since Denis’s first job in newspaper photography at the Mansfield Reporter and we are delighted that the exhibition of his work at Editions is part of the celebrations.
Editions will be selling photographs signed by Denis as well as copies of his book A View from the North.
Denis was born to a Nottinghamshire family working in industry and mining. Long periods of severe illness in his childhood – diphtheria when he was around 5 years old, and TB at the age of 10 – meant he was confined to an isolation hospital, then for two years he was sent to an open-air school. These enforced periods away gave him a different perspective on life and took him away from heavy industry, and towards journalism and ultimately photography.
“What on earth made me want to record images? At school I enjoyed writing and thought I wanted to be a reporter, but what I discovered by sheer accident was that photography could do something magical. I had been fortunate to be taken on by the editor of my local paper. He asked me to assist the only staff photographer. I became interested in pictures and art when I used to go Mansfield Public Library to try and find books on photojournalism. There was only Bill Brandt. Then in looking for books I found the arts section… I found the impressionists. They really interested me because of their structure – they didn’t obey any rules – not straight pictures but things cut off – like photography.”