Lewis Frederick Morley (16 June 1925 – 3 September 2013) was a

photographer A photographer (the Greek φῶς (''phos''), meaning "light", and γραφή (''graphê''), meaning "drawing, writing", together meaning "drawing with light") is a person who uses a camera to make photographs. Duties and types of photograp ...

Biography

Morley was born in Hong Kong to English and Chinese parents and interned in Stanley Internment Camp during the

Japanese occupation of Hong Kong The Japanese occupation of Hong Kong began when the governor of Hong Kong, Mark Aitchison Young, surrendered the British Crown colony of British Hong Kong, Hong Kong to the Empire of Japan on 25 December 1941. His surrender occurred after Batt ...

between 1941 and 1945, when he was released and emigrated to the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

with his family. He studied at Twickenham Art School for three years, and spent time as a painter in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

in the 1950s. Perhaps best known for his photographs of

Christine Keeler Christine Margaret Keeler (22 February 1942 – 4 December 2017) was an English model and showgirl. Her meeting at a dance club with society osteopath Stephen Ward drew her into fashionable circles. At the Cold War (1953–1962), height of the ...

and

Joe Orton John Kingsley Orton (1 January 1933 – 9 August 1967), known by the pen name of Joe Orton, was an English playwright, author, and diarist. His public career, from 1964 until his murder in 1967 committed by his partner, was short but highly i ...

, Morley began his career with assignments for magazines such as ''

Tatler ''Tatler'' (stylised in all caps) is a British magazine published by Condé Nast Publications. It focuses on fashion and lifestyle, as well as coverage of high society and politics. It is targeted towards the British upper and upper-middle c ...

''. He was also a successful theatre photographer for over 100 West End productions. His publicity photographs for the ''

Beyond The Fringe ''Beyond the Fringe'' was a British comedy Play (theatre), stage revue written and performed by Alan Bennett, Peter Cook, Jonathan Miller, and Dudley Moore. It debuted at the 1960 Edinburgh Festival and went on to play in London's West End the ...

'' revue (1961) included a study of the cast

Peter Cook Peter Edward Cook (17 November 1937 – 9 January 1995) was an English comedian, actor, satirist, playwright and screenwriter. He was the leading figure of the British satire boom of the 1960s, and he was associated with the anti-establishmen ...

Dudley Moore Dudley Stuart John Moore (19 April 193527 March 2002) was an English actor, comedian, musician and composer. He first came to prominence in the UK as a leading figure in the British satire boom of the 1960s. He was one of the four writer-perf ...

Alan Bennett Alan Bennett (born 9 May 1934) is an English actor, author, playwright and screenwriter. He has received numerous awards and honours including four BAFTA Awards, four Laurence Olivier Awards, and two Tony Awards. In 2005 he received the Socie ...

and

Jonathan Miller Sir Jonathan Wolfe Miller CBE (21 July 1934 – 27 November 2019) was an English theatre and opera director, actor, author, television presenter, comedian and physician. After training in medicine and specialising in neurology in the late 19 ...

which was used for the best selling LP Cover of the show. Morley emigrated to

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

in 1971 with his wife Patricia and son Lewis, where he lived in the inner west of

Sydney Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...

. He did studio and commercial work photographing architecture and food in magazines such as '' Belle'', and worked with interior designers and stylists such as Babette Hayes, and Charmaine Solomon until his retirement in 1987. In 1989 he collaborated with photographs curator Terence Pepper in staging his first museum retrospective at London's

National Portrait Gallery National Portrait Gallery may refer to: * National Portrait Gallery (Australia), in Canberra * National Portrait Gallery (Sweden), in Mariefred *National Portrait Gallery (United States), in Washington, D.C. *National Portrait Gallery, London ...

and subsequently donated all the images printed for the exhibition as part of a larger archive of his work. His first autobiography ''Black and White Lies'' was published in 1992. In the mid 1990s, Morley ventured into the gallery business when he opened The Lewis Morley Photographers Showcase. Embracing the great tradition of photographic salons, the gallery presented the work of a variety of local photographers from a range of genres. In 1999, Lewis Morley appeared in the ''Contemporary Australian Photographers'' series. It was followed in 2003 with the release of a film about his life and an exhibition ''Myself and Eye'' at the National Portrait Gallery in Canberra. In 2006, an extensive exhibition showcasing 50 years of Lewis Morley work was displayed at the

Art Gallery of New South Wales The Art Gallery of New South Wales (AGNSW), founded as the New South Wales Academy of Art in 1872 and known as the National Art Gallery of New South Wales between 1883 and 1958, is located in The Domain, Sydney, Australia. It is the most import ...

. Titled ''Lewis Morley: 50 Years of Photography,'' the exhibition included 150 of his works covering fashion, theatre, and reportage, many of which had never been seen before. Morley died in September 2013 aged 88. His archive was subsequently donated to the

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 ...

in Bradford, England.

References

External links

Obituary
''

Daily Telegraph ''The Daily Telegraph'', known online and elsewhere as ''The Telegraph'', is a British daily broadsheet conservative newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed in the United Kingdom and internationally. It was foun ...

'', 8 September 2013
Lewis Morley profilePhotographing Christine Keeler
described on the Victoria and Albert Museum website
LewisMorley.ComPathe Film of Morley at workGallery of Morley's photographs from ''The Guardian''Lewis Morley images in the collection of the Art Gallery NSWPhotographs by Lewis Morley in the National Portrait Gallery, London
{{DEFAULTSORT:Morley, Lewis 1925 births 2013 deaths 20th-century Australian photographers Hong Kong emigrants to England English people of Chinese descent English male photographers Hong Kong people of English descent Hong Kong photographers Theatrical photographers Internees at Stanley Internment Camp Recipients of the Medal of the Order of Australia British emigrants to Australia Australian expatriates in England

Biography

References

Further reading

External links