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By Colin Harding on

John Hinde work included in new Photographers’ Gallery exhibition

John Hinde was a pioneer of colour photography in Britain. Some of his work has just gone on display at the Photographers’ Gallery’s exhibition Mass Observation: This is Your Photo.

Last week, The Photographers’ Gallery in London opened a new exhibition, Mass Observation: This is Your Photo. This exhibition explores the role of photography in the Mass Observation Archive.

Mass Observation was founded in 1937 as a radical experiment in social science, art and documentary. Its founders aimed to create a new kind of realism in response to the economic and political conditions leading up to World War II, aiming to create an ‘anthropology of ourselves’ through artistic means and by collecting anecdotal evidence from people’s everyday lives and experiences.

Included in the exhibition are several photographs by John Hinde from our collection which we have loaned for display.

John Hinde (1916–1997) was a pioneer of colour photography in Britain. The John Hinde Archive is a collection of outstanding importance which covers his lifetime’s work—from early experiments in black and white photography to early colour processes and commercial postcard photography.

The archive contains over 1,000 items: here are just a few.

Woman in a red dress, 1939, John Hinde, The Royal Photographic Society Collection © National Media Museum, Bradford / SSPL. Creative Commons BY-NC-SA
Woman in a red dress, 1939, John Hinde © The Royal Photographic Society Collection
Man and woman by air raid shelter, c.1940, John Hinde © John Hinde Ltd.
Man and woman by air raid shelter, c.1940, John Hinde © John Hinde Ltd.
Rex, the lovely lady rider, 1947, John Hinde, The Royal Photographic Society Collection © National Media Museum, Bradford / SSPL. Creative Commons BY-NC-SA
Rex, the lovely lady rider, 1947, John Hinde © The Royal Photographic Society Collection
'Piccadilly Circus and Eros Statue, London', c.1962, John Hinde © John Hinde Ltd.
‘Piccadilly Circus and Eros Statue, London’, c.1962, John Hinde © John Hinde Ltd.
A member of the warden's service fitting a gas mask, 1944, John Hinde, The Royal Photographic Society Collection © National Media Museum, Bradford / SSPL. Creative Commons BY-NC-SA
A member of the warden’s service fitting a gas mask, 1944, John Hinde © The Royal Photographic Society Collection
Plate with fish surrounded by vegetables, 1941, John Hinde, The Royal Photographic Society Collection © National Media Museum, Bradford / SSPL. Creative Commons BY-NC-SA
Plate with fish surrounded by vegetables, 1941, John Hinde © The Royal Photographic Society Collection
'Hitler Youth', 1936, John Hinde, The Royal Photographic Society Collection © National Media Museum, Bradford / SSPL. Creative Commons BY-NC-SA
‘Hitler Youth’, 1936, John Hinde © The Royal Photographic Society Collection
'Thatched Cottage in the Yeats Country...', c.1958, John Hinde © John Hinde Ltd.
‘Thatched Cottage in the Yeats Country…’, c.1958, John Hinde © John Hinde Ltd.
A fire guard, 1944, John Hinde, The Royal Photographic Society Collection © National Media Museum, Bradford / SSPL. Creative Commons BY-NC-SA
A fire guard, 1944, John Hinde © The Royal Photographic Society Collection
'Trafalgar Square and Nelson's Column, London' c.1962, John Hinde © John Hinde Ltd.
‘Trafalgar Square and Nelson’s Column, London’ c.1962, John Hinde © John Hinde Ltd.

See more John Hinde photographs on the Science and Society Picture Library website. You can also buy a John Hinde print through the SSPL print store.

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