John Darwell (born 1955) is a British photographer.

Life and career

Darwell was born in

Bolton Bolton ( , locally ) is a town in Greater Manchester in England. In the foothills of the West Pennine Moors, Bolton is between Manchester, Blackburn, Wigan, Bury, Greater Manchester, Bury and Salford. It is surrounded by several towns and vill ...

, Lancashire,Stephen Clarke,
John Darwell: DDSBs (Discarded Dog Sh*t Bags)
, Redeye, 27 August 2013. in 1955. He has a BA in photography from

Manchester Polytechnic Manchester Metropolitan University is located in the centre of Manchester, England. The university has 40,000 students and over 4,000 members of staff. It is home to four faculties (Arts and Humanities, Business and Law, Health and Education ...

, and a PhD from the

University of Sunderland The University of Sunderland is a public research university located in Sunderland in the North East of England. Its predecessor, Sunderland Technical College, was established as a municipal training college in 1901. It gained university status ...

. (His thesis was titled ''A Black Dog Came Calling: A Visualisation of Depression through Contemporary Photography''.)John Darwell
, Land2, University of Leeds. He is a Reader in photography at the

University of Cumbria The University of Cumbria is a public university in Cumbria, with its headquarters in Carlisle and other major campuses in Lancaster, Ambleside, and London. It has roots extending back to the Society for the Encouragement of Fine Arts, establi ...

. As a photographer, Darwell "roots himself in neglected landscapes". His early work, published in ''Working Lives'' and ''The Big Ditch'', was in black and white, but he moved to colour soon thereafter and has not used black and white since. ''Jimmy Jock, Albert and the Six Sided Clock'' (published in 1993) shows the Liverpool docklands at a time when "the amount of cargo passing through the docks" was higher than ever before, but when, thanks to mechanization, everything was run by fewer than 600 men, down from over 20,000. For three weeks in late 1999, Darwell photographed within the

Chernobyl Exclusion Zone The Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant Zone of Alienation, also called the 30-Kilometre Zone or simply The Zone, was established shortly after the 1986 Chernobyl disaster in the Ukrainian SSR of the Soviet Union. Initially, Soviet authorities declar ...

Pripyat Pripyat, also known as Prypiat, is an abandoned industrial city in Kyiv Oblast, Ukraine, located near the border with Belarus. Named after the nearby river, Pripyat (river), Pripyat, it was founded on 4 February 1970 as the ninth ''atomgrad'' ...

, numerous villages, a landfill site, and people continuing to live within the Zone. This resulted in an exhibition and book titled ''Legacy''. The first pyre intended to check the British outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease in early 2001 took place very close to Darwell's house in Cumbria. Darwell devoted a year to photographing this and its aftermath; the resulting book, ''Dark Days'', "catalogues the destruction that consumed local farming communities and shut Cumbria off from the outside world". ''DDSBs: Discarded Dog Sh*t Bags'' shows "a typology of discarded plastic bags containing dog muck", photographs Darwell presents "as evidence of our half-hearted commitment to the ecological cause".

Books by Darwell

*''Working Lives.'' Stockport, Ches.: Stockport Museums and Gallery Service, 1986. . With a foreword by John Baker, an introduction by Frank Galvin, and additional photographs from the Stockport Museum archive. *''The Big Ditch: The Manchester Ship Canal Seen through the Camera of John Darwell.'' Chorley, Lancs: Countryside Publications, 1987. . Photographs of the

Manchester Ship Canal The Manchester Ship Canal is a inland waterway in the North West England, North West of England linking Manchester to the Irish Sea. Starting at the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary at Eastham, Merseyside, Eastham, near Ellesmere Port, Cheshire, it ...

. *''Jimmy Jock, Albert and the Six Sided Clock.'' Manchester:

Cornerhouse Cornerhouse was a cinema and contemporary visual arts centre next to Oxford Road Station on Oxford Street, Manchester, England, from 1985 to 2015. It had three floors of art galleries, three cinemas, a bookshop, bar and café. Cornerhouse was ...

, 1993. . Photographs of the

Port of Liverpool The Port of Liverpool is the enclosed dock system that runs from Brunswick Dock in Liverpool to Seaforth Dock, Seaforth, on the east side of the River Mersey and the Birkenhead Docks between Birkenhead and Wallasey on the west side of ...

. *''Legacy: Photographs inside the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone.'' Stockport:

Dewi Lewis Dewi Lewis (born Denbigh, Wales, 10 March 1951) is a publisher and curator of photography. Career In 1975, Lewis was the founding director of the Bury, Greater Manchester, Bury Metropolitan Arts Association which operates The Met (arts centre), ...

, 2001. .Dewi Lewis's page about the two books by John Darwell it has published i
here
. *''Dark Days.'' Stockport: Dewi Lewis, 2007. . With essays by Liz Wells, Roger Breeze, David Black and Alison Nordström. *''Committed to Memory.'' Carlisle, Cumbria:

Tullie House Museum and Art Gallery Tullie House Museum and Art Gallery, officially known as Tullie since July 2024, is a museum in Carlisle, England. Opened by the Carlisle Corporation in 1893, the original building is a converted Jacobean mansion, with extensions added when it ...

, 2007. . With an introduction by Paul Herrmann and an essay by Simon Grennan. *''DDSBs: Discarded Dog Sh*t Bags.'' Self-published / mynewtpress, 2013. Edition of 200 copies.The photographer/publisher's information about this i
here
The book is presente
here
by Josef Chladek. `

Booklets and zines by Darwell

*''(h)arris: Images from the Western Isles.'' Democratic Book no. 9. Cologne: Democratic Books, 2004. A PDF that is freely downloadable from the publisher's website.The publisher's website
democraticbooks.org
If this is unavailable, the PDF remains available fro
here
as archived on 13 July 2006 by the Wayback Machine. *''Sheffield: Tinsley Viaduct.'' Southport, Merseyside:

Café Royal Books Café Royal Books is an small press, independent publisher across the globe]", ''Southport Visiter''. Retrieved by the Wayback Machine on 16 October 2014. of photography Photo-book, photobooks or zines, run by Craig Atkinson and based in Ainsdal ...

, 2013.Café Royal Books' page about ''Sheffield: Tinsley Viaduct'' i
here
*''Sheffield: Meadowhall, Hyde Park, Ponds Forge.'' Southport, Merseyside: Café Royal Books, 2013.Café Royal Books' page about ''Sheffield: Meadowhall, Hyde Park, Ponds Forge'' i
here
. *''Grangemouth and the Forth Estuary.'' Southport, Merseyside: Café Royal Books, 2014.Café Royal Books' page about ''Grangemouth and the Forth Estuary'' i
here
*''Desert States: Photographs from New Mexico, Arizona, Utah and Nevada.'' Chronicles no. 6. Part of Chronicles set 2. Taipei: The Velvet Cell, 2014.The Velvet Cell's page about Chronicles set 2, including ''Desert States'', was archive
here
by the Wayback Machine on 12 July 2014. *''Chernobyl.'' Vol 1. Chronicles no. 13. Taipei: The Velvet Cell, 2014.The Velvet Cell's page about Chronicles set 3, including ''Desert States'', was archive
here
by the Wayback Machine on 23 August 2014. *''Chernobyl.'' Vol 2. Chronicles no. 14. Taipei: The Velvet Cell, 2014. *''Sheffield: Things Seen whilst Wandering around Attercliffe.'' Southport, Merseyside: Café Royal Books, 2014.Café Royal Books' page about ''Sheffield: Things Seen whilst Wandering around Attercliffe'' i
here
*''Sheffield: The Remains of Some Buildings around the Don Valley.'' Southport, Merseyside: Café Royal Books, 2014.Café Royal Books' page about ''Sheffield: The Remains of Some Buildings around the Don Valley'' i
here
*''Sheffield: In Transition.'' Southport, Merseyside: Café Royal Books, 2014.Café Royal Books' page about ''Sheffield in Transition'' i
here
*''The Dark River: Bolton — Farnworth.'' Southport, Merseyside: Café Royal Books, 2015. Edition of 150 copies.Café Royal Books' page about ''The Dark River: Bolton — Farnworth'' i
here
*''The Dark River: Kearsley — Clifton.'' Southport, Merseyside: Café Royal Books, 2015. Edition of 150 copies.Café Royal Books' page about ''The Dark River: Kearsley — Clifton'' i
here
*''The Dark River: Kearsley Power Station.'' Southport, Merseyside: Café Royal Books, 2016. Edition of 150 copies.Café Royal Books' page about ''The Dark River: Kearsley Power Station'' i
here
*''The Dark River: Clifton — Death Valley — Agecroft.'' Southport, Merseyside: Café Royal Books, 2016. Edition of 150 copies.Café Royal Books' page about ''The Dark River: Clifton — Death Valley — Agecroft'' i
here
*''The Dark River: Agecroft — Salford.'' Southport, Merseyside: Café Royal Books, 2016. Edition of 150 copies. Some copies are accompanied by a separate essay by Paul Herrmann, "Reflections on Dark River."Café Royal Books' page about ''The Dark River: Agecroft — Salford'' i
here

Solo exhibitions

*''Cityscapes''. Brewery Arts Centre, Kendal, Cumbria, 1984. *''Landscapes''. Stockport Art Gallery, Stockport, 1984. *''Working Lives''. Stockport Art Gallery, Stockport;

Side Gallery Side Gallery is a photography gallery in Newcastle upon Tyne, run by Amber Film & Photography Collective. It opened in 1977 as Side Gallery and Cinema with a remit to show humanist photography "both by and commissioned by the group along with wo ...

Newcastle upon Tyne Newcastle upon Tyne, or simply Newcastle ( , Received Pronunciation, RP: ), is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England. It is England's northernmost metropolitan borough, located o ...

, 1986. Bonnington Gallery, Trent Polytechnic, Nottingham, 1987. *''The Big Ditch''. Viewpoint Gallery, Salford, Manchester, 1986. *''Regeneration''. Untitled Gallery, Sheffield, 1989. *''Borderland''. Manor Gallery, Carlisle, Cumbria, 1989. *''The Big Ditch''.

Blackburn Museum and Art Gallery The Blackburn Museum and Art Gallery is the local museum service for the borough of Blackburn with Darwen Borough Council. It is a museum with collections of Christian icons, Egyptian hieroglyphs, and local history, as well as those of the fo ...

, Blackburn;

Merseyside Maritime Museum The Merseyside Maritime Museum is a museum based in the city of Liverpool, Merseyside Merseyside ( ) is a ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial and metropolitan county in North West England. It borders Lancashire to the north, Greater M ...

, Liverpool, 1990. Castle Park Arts Centre, Frodsham,

Cheshire Cheshire ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in North West England. It is bordered by Merseyside to the north-west, Greater Manchester to the north-east, Derbyshire to the east, Staffordshire to the south-east, and Shrop ...

, 1991. Calderdale Industrial Museum, Halifax, Yorkshire; Manor Gallery, Carlisle, 1992.

Williamson Art Gallery The Williamson Art Gallery and Museum is an art gallery and museum situated in Birkenhead, Merseyside, England and houses Wirral's art collection. History The art gallery and museum opened on 1 December 1928, the single-storey building is Neo- ...

, Birkenhead, 1993. Duncan of Jordanstone Gallery, Dundee, 1994. *''Jimmy Jock, Albert and the Six Sided Clock.'' Merseyside Maritime Museum, Liverpool. May–September 1993. Fotonoviembre,

Centro de Fotografía Isla de Tenerife The Centro de Fotografía Isla de Tenerife (''Photo Center Tenerife Island'') is a museum dedicated to photography located in the city of Santa Cruz de Tenerife (Spain) which was opened in 1989. The museum moved under the control of TEA (Tenerife Es ...

, 1995. *''Scratching the Surface''.

, Carlisle, 1994. *''Workplace''. Durham Art Gallery, Durham, 1996. *''In Isolation''.

Euston railway station Euston railway station ( ; or London Euston) is a major London station group, central London railway terminus and Euston tube station, connected London Underground station managed by Network Rail in the London Borough of Camden. It is the sout ...

escalators, London, 1996. *''Where it all began''. Centro Colombo Americano, Medellín, Colombia, 1996. *''By Association.'' Mill Gallery, Carlisle, 1997. Landscapes associated with nuclear testing and energy generation.Fission for compliments
, ''The Independent'', 9 August 1997. *''First and Last.'' Viewpoint Gallery, Salford, 1997. Rituals in Japan to commemorate the atomic bombs. *''By Association.'' Folly Gallery, Lancaster; Tom Blau Gallery, London, 2001 *''Legacy''. Tullie House Museum and Art Gallery, Carlisle, 2001. *''Consequences''.

Gallery Oldham Gallery Oldham is a free-to-view public museum and art gallery in the Cultural Quarter of central Oldham, in Greater Manchester, England. Design Designed by architects Pringle Richards Sharratt, Gallery Oldham was completed in its original f ...

, 2002. *''After Schwitters – Kurt Schwitters and the Merzbarn Conference''. Cumbria, 2003. *''h)arris''. Installation sited at 15 rail stations along Cumbrian Coast Line, 2004. *''A Black Dog Came Calling and Melancholy Objects''. Institute of Psychiatry Gallery,

King's College London King's College London (informally King's or KCL) is a public university, public research university in London, England. King's was established by royal charter in 1829 under the patronage of George IV of the United Kingdom, King George IV ...

. November 2005 – February 2006. *''Committed to Memory.'' Tullie House Museum and Art Gallery, Carlisle. May–July 2007. *''Working Lives.'' Stockport Art Gallery, February–March 2011. Darwell's photographs from 1985. *''Dogs in Cages''. Look 11 International Photography Festival, ''Confined.'' The Bluecoat, Liverpool, May–July 2011. *''After Schwitters''.

Hatton Gallery The Hatton Gallery is Newcastle University's art gallery in Newcastle upon Tyne, England. It is based in the university's Fine Art Building and part of North East Museums. The Hatton Gallery closed in February 2016 for a £3.8 million redevel ...

, University of Newcastle. February–April 2013.

Public collections

Victoria and Albert Museum The Victoria and Albert Museum (abbreviated V&A) in London is the world's largest museum of applied arts, decorative arts and design, housing a permanent collection of over 2.8 million objects. It was founded in 1852 and named after Queen ...

, London * King's College /

Maudsley Hospital The Maudsley Hospital is a British psychiatric hospital in south London. The Maudsley is the largest mental health training institution in the UK. It is part of South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust, and works in partnership with the I ...

Trust, London *

British Film Institute The British Film Institute (BFI) is a film and television charitable organisation which promotes and preserves filmmaking and television in the United Kingdom. The BFI uses funds provided by the National Lottery to encourage film production, ...

, London *

Site Gallery Site Gallery is an art gallery in Sheffield, England. It specialises in moving image, new media and performance based art. Site Gallery is based at Brown Street in Sheffield's Cultural Industries Quarter. It is an international centre for cont ...

, Sheffield *

National Media Museum The National Science and Media Museum (formerly The National Museum of Photography, Film & Television, 1983–2006 and then the National Media Museum, 2006–2017), located in Bradford, West Yorkshire, is part of the national Science Museum ...

/ Sun Life Collection, Bradford *

, Liverpool *

, Carlisle *

Manchester Art Gallery Manchester Art Gallery, formerly Manchester City Art Gallery, is a publicly owned art museum on Mosley Street in Manchester city centre, England. The main gallery premises were built for a learned society in 1823 and today its collection occupi ...

* Arts Council North West, Manchester * Stockport Art Gallery, Stockport * Viewpoint Gallery, Salford *

Metropolitan Museum of Art The Metropolitan Museum of Art, colloquially referred to as the Met, is an Encyclopedic museum, encyclopedic art museum in New York City. By floor area, it is the List of largest museums, third-largest museum in the world and the List of larg ...

, New York *

Warehouse. Port of Liverpool / Serie 'Jimmy Jock, Albert and the Six Sided Clock'
, Museos de Tenerife.

Notes

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Darwell, John Photographers from Cumbria Photography in Ukraine Alumni of Manchester Metropolitan University Alumni of the University of Sunderland Academics of the University of Cumbria Living people 1955 births People from Bolton