David Granick shows us the East End in Colour

2 September 201823 January 2019 April Kosky Reviews

The photobook The East End in Colour is a collection of beautiful photographs of the old East End spanning the 1960s to 1980s captured in colour by photographer David Granick.

These photographs show an East End very different to the one we know and love today. Granick’s backstreet photography show an East End’s housing situation in the flux of change as Victorian terraces were replaced by tower blocks following World War II damage.

David Granick lived and died in Stepney. A keen photographer and member of the East London History Society he gave lectures on various local history themes illustrated with images taken by himself or his fellow members of the Stepney Camera Club. On his death in 1980, his Kodachrome slides were deposited at Tower Hamlets Local History Library & Archives (THLHLA) – the Victorian public library five minutes’ walk from his home – where they have been securely preserved ever since.

A few years ago, volunteers began to gradually scan the slide collections held at THLHLA, and a few were posted on social media. Local photographer Chris Dorley-Brown immediately recognised the special quality of those taken by David Granick and offered to digitise them all himself in a higher quality, removing dust and scratches.

In his introduction, Dorley-Brown states, ‘Granick keeps people in the background. Granick’s East End is a place in transition: the docks and heavy industries are closing, the Jewish silversmiths and hatters are moving on and up, the Bengali rag trade is yet to establish dominance.’

The photographs show post-war, pre-gentrification East London. They are a magical look back into the history of our East End.

Printed by Hoxton Mini Press, this book was first published in February 2018.

David Granick photograph of men around a fire — Men around a fire – Spitalfields Market 1973

David Granick Photograph of Percy Dalton's — Percy Dalton’s – Brushfield Street 1970

David Granick Photograph of men looking for work — Men looking for work – Whitechapel Road 1965

David Granick photgraph of Stifford Estate — Stifford Estate – Stepney Green 1961

David Granick photograph of West India Dock — Ships in West India Dock 1971

David Granick photograph of Gardiner's Department store — Gardiner’s Department Store – Whitechapel High Street 1960s

David Granick photograph of The George Tavern — The George Tavern – Commercial Road 1969

David Granick photograph of The New Globe — The New Globe – Mile End Road 1977

David Granick photograph of Belhaven Street — Belhaven Street 1977

To purchase a copy of The East End in Colour, head to the Hoxton Mini Press website.

If you like this, you might like Tom Oldham’s photographs of the Crooners at The Palm Tree pub.

Support us

We want to keep our content FREE for all! With your support, we can!

As a social enterprise using constructive journalism to strengthen communities, we have not put our digital content behind a paywall or subscription fee as we think the benefits of an independent, local publication should be available to everyone living in our area.

We are a tiny team of four covering Whitechapel and Tower Hamlets, relying entirely on member donations. Hundreds of members have already joined. Become a member to donate as little as £3 per month to support constructive journalism and the local community.

PLEASE DONATE