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 makes photographs. Duties and types of photographers As in other ...

Biography

Morley was born in Hong Kong to English and Chinese parents and interned in

Stanley Internment Camp Stanley Internment Camp () was a civilian internment camp in Hong Kong during the Second World War. Located in Stanley, on the southern end of Hong Kong Island, it was used by the Japanese imperial forces to hold non- Chinese enemy nationals ...

during the

Japanese occupation of Hong Kong The Imperial Japanese occupation of Hong Kong began when the Governor of Hong Kong, Sir Mark Young, surrendered the British Crown colony of Hong Kong to the Empire of Japan on 25 December 1941. The surrender occurred after 18 days of fierce ...

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 Europe, off the north-western coast of the European mainland, 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 and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. ...

in the 1950s. Perhaps best known for his photographs of Christine Keeler 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 death in 1967, was short but highly influential. During this brie ...

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

Tatler ''Tatler'' is a British magazine published by Condé Nast Publications focusing on fashion and lifestyle, as well as coverage of high society and politics. It is targeted towards the British upper-middle class and upper class, and those interes ...

''. He was also a successful theatre photographer for over 100 West End productions. His publicity photographs for the '' Beyond The Fringe'' revue (1961) included a study of the cast

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

Dudley Moore Dudley Stuart John Moore CBE (19 April 193527 March 2002) was an English actor, comedian, musician and composer. Moore 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 writ ...

Alan Bennett Alan Bennett (born 9 May 1934) is an English actor, author, playwright and screenwriter. Over his distinguished entertainment career he has received numerous awards and honours including two BAFTA Awards, four Laurence Olivier Awards, and two ...

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, humourist and physician. After training in medicine and specialising in neurology in the late 1 ...

which was used for the best selling LP Cover of the show. Morley emigrated to Australia in 1971 with his wife Patricia and son Lewis, where he lived in the inner west of Sydney. 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 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. 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'', 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 the United Kingdom English 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

Biography

References

Further reading

External links