PHIL MAXWELL

Work On Whitechapel Road

April 21, 2015

Whitechapel Road 2014

Vallance To Whitechapel Roads

April 20, 2015

Vallance Road 2014

Whitechapel Road 2014

Flyposters can be found in cities all over the world. Some regard them as a scourge on the urban environment. I’ve always been captivated by them. Once a poster is applied to a wall it can take on a new personality through attempts to remove it. The weather can also change a posters character. During their short life these posters provide an intriguing urban footprint of contemporary life.

Cinema posters on a wall in Chittagong, Bangladesh.

Face on a wall, Budapest.

Whitechapel 2005

Portrait, Brick Lane.

Poster inside a smashed shop window, Brick Lane.

Part of the remaining Berlin Wall 2013

Brick Lane 2003

Whitechapel 2007

Dockyard Doris

April 18, 2015

Dockyard Doris at the Brick Lane music hall

I first saw Colin Devereaux performing at the Lord Hood pub in the early 1980?s. Off stage Colin was a quiet and sensitive man. On stage as Dockyard Doris he was an outrageous performer with a wide repertoire influenced by music hall traditions.

The former Lord Hood pub after it was burnt out in 2008

Dockyard Doris at the Brick Lane music hall

Colin regularly appeared in pantomimes and was a regular performer at the Brick Lane music hall set up by Vincent Hayes in the 1990?s.

Dockyard Doris at the Brick Lane music hall in Brick Lane

These photographs were taken at the Brick Lane music hall in the mid 1990?s. The music hall has now moved from Brick Lane to a magnificent Victorian church in Canning town. It is now the only fully functioning music hall venue in the UK.

Peter John and Dockyard Doris at the Brick Lane music hall

Colin Devereaux had a thirty year career in show business which included radio and TV appearances. After a long fight with cancer he died in 2001 aged 50.

Peter John and Dockyard Doris at the Brick Lane music Hall

I recall visiting him in his home in the 1990?s in Stepney. He was extremely knowledgeable about the history of music hall and he viewed himself as part of that rich tradition.