A New Home For Old Photographs

Photograph by O. Baumgard, 12 Little Alie St

It fills me with dismay to see old family albums for sale. And boxes of loose family photographs, all mixed up together, are one of the saddest sights you could encounter in the market.

Countless times, I have leafed through these books of photographs, often painstakingly captioned, that were once cherished and are now discarded, and I find it hard to resist the urge to buy them all just so that I can keep them safe on behalf of their former owners. I stand and pay my respects to the tender images of the holidays and family celebrations of strangers, as if my close attention might revive the lonely spirits of these lost souls. Yet, as much as I would like to, it is beyond my capacity to become the guardian and collector of all the stray photographs in the world, and so I must pass them by in regret.

So you can imagine my delight when Stefan Dickers, Archivist at the Bishopsgate Institute, told me that he is offering a home to all the unwanted albums and family photographs, where they can be kept safely for perpetuity and take their rightful place in the grand narrative of history. It is to be called the London Family Photo Archive and the beauty of it is that you can also contribute digital copies of photographs if you wish to keep the prints.

“We are looking for family and personal photos of everyday life, no matter if you have lived in London since birth or are a recent arrival to the city,” Stefan explained to me, “We are also looking for photos that depict Londoners on day trips and holidays outside of the city.”

If you might wish to contribute albums or pictures and would like to know more please contact library@bishopsgate.org.uk

Stefan Dickers’ grandparents Win & Doug enjoy a drink at Dirty Dicks’ in 1958

Lucy feeding the pigeons in Trafalgar Sq in 1981

Stephen with mum & dad, c.1955

Stephen with dad in the backyard at Canning Town, c. 1965

Joan & Bill Naylor celebrate in Bellevue Place in the sixties

Joginder Singh in 1968

Photograph by Oscar Baumgart, The Empire Studio, 118 Commercial Rd

A family Christmas in Elder St 1968 – Neville Turner sits next to his father at the dinner table

John & June getting married in Ealing in 1953

Bob Mazzer & his dad ‘Mott’ in 1950

Michelle at a party in Peckham in 1991

Family portrait at a studio in Vallance Rd, 1980. From left to right – Arful Nessa (mother), Haji Abdul Jalil (father), Hafsa Begum (sister), Rahana Begum (sister), Faruk Miah (cousin), Shiraz Miah (cousin) and Delwar Hussain.