Christopher Horace Steele-Perkinss (1947) is a British photographer whose contributions to documentary photography both in Britain and abroad have received multiple awards and critical acclaim. The artist’s seminal documentation of British teen subcultures led to his first solo book, The Teds (1979).
Steele-Perkins was born in Rangoon, Burma in 1947 to a British father and a Burmese mother; but his father left his mother and took the boy to England at the age of two. He went to Christ's Hospital and for one year studied chemistry at the University of York before leaving for a stay in Canada. Returning to Britain, he joined the University of Newcastle upon Tyne, where he served as photographer and picture editor for a student magazine. After graduating in psychology in 1970 he started to work as a freelance photographer, specializing in the theatre, while he also lectured in psychology.
By 1971, Steele-Perkins had moved to London and become a full-time photographer, with particular interest in urban issues, including poverty. He went to Bangladesh in 1973 to take photographs for relief organizations. In 1973–74 he taught photography at the Stanhope Institute and the North East London Polytechnic.
In 1975, Steele-Perkins joined the Exit Photography Group with the photographers Nicholas Battye and Paul Trevor, and there continued his examination of urban problems: Exit's earlier booklet Down Wapping had led to a commission by the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation to increase the scale of their work, and in six years they produced 30,000 photographs as well as many hours of taped interviews.
Steele-Perkins became an associate of the French agency Viva in 1976, and three years after this, he published his first book, The Teds, an examination of teddy boys that is now considered a classic of documentary and even fashion photography. He curated photographs for the Arts Council collection, and co-edited a collection of these, About 70 Photographs.
In 1977 Steele-Perkins made a short detour into "conceptual" photography, working with the photographer Mark Edwards to collect images from the ends of rolls of films taken by themselves and others. These were exposures taken after loading a fresh film and without focusing or aiming.
Steele-Perkins made four trips to Afghanistan in the 1990s, sometimes staying with the Taliban, the majority of whom "were just ordinary guys" who treated him courteously. Together with James Nachtwey and others, he was also fired on, prompting him to reconsider his priorities: in addition to the danger of the front line:
Steele-Perkins served as the President of Magnum from 1995 to 1998. He has spent much time in Japan, publishing two books of photographs. His work in South Korea included a contribution to a Hayward Gallery touring exhibition of photographs of contemporary slavery.
Steele-Perkins returned to England for a project by the Side Gallery; after this work ended, he stayed on to work on a depiction (in black and white) of life in the north-east of England, published as Northern Exposures.
© 2019. All images are copyrighted © by Christopher Steele-Perkins. Apart from fair dealing for the purpose of private study, research, criticism or review as permitted under the Copyright Act, the use of any image from this site is prohibited unless prior written permission is obtained. All images used for illustrative purposes only.
Steele-Perkins was born in Rangoon, Burma in 1947 to a British father and a Burmese mother; but his father left his mother and took the boy to England at the age of two. He went to Christ's Hospital and for one year studied chemistry at the University of York before leaving for a stay in Canada. Returning to Britain, he joined the University of Newcastle upon Tyne, where he served as photographer and picture editor for a student magazine. After graduating in psychology in 1970 he started to work as a freelance photographer, specializing in the theatre, while he also lectured in psychology.
By 1971, Steele-Perkins had moved to London and become a full-time photographer, with particular interest in urban issues, including poverty. He went to Bangladesh in 1973 to take photographs for relief organizations. In 1973–74 he taught photography at the Stanhope Institute and the North East London Polytechnic.
In 1975, Steele-Perkins joined the Exit Photography Group with the photographers Nicholas Battye and Paul Trevor, and there continued his examination of urban problems: Exit's earlier booklet Down Wapping had led to a commission by the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation to increase the scale of their work, and in six years they produced 30,000 photographs as well as many hours of taped interviews.
Steele-Perkins became an associate of the French agency Viva in 1976, and three years after this, he published his first book, The Teds, an examination of teddy boys that is now considered a classic of documentary and even fashion photography. He curated photographs for the Arts Council collection, and co-edited a collection of these, About 70 Photographs.
In 1977 Steele-Perkins made a short detour into "conceptual" photography, working with the photographer Mark Edwards to collect images from the ends of rolls of films taken by themselves and others. These were exposures taken after loading a fresh film and without focusing or aiming.
Steele-Perkins made four trips to Afghanistan in the 1990s, sometimes staying with the Taliban, the majority of whom "were just ordinary guys" who treated him courteously. Together with James Nachtwey and others, he was also fired on, prompting him to reconsider his priorities: in addition to the danger of the front line:
Steele-Perkins served as the President of Magnum from 1995 to 1998. He has spent much time in Japan, publishing two books of photographs. His work in South Korea included a contribution to a Hayward Gallery touring exhibition of photographs of contemporary slavery.
Steele-Perkins returned to England for a project by the Side Gallery; after this work ended, he stayed on to work on a depiction (in black and white) of life in the north-east of England, published as Northern Exposures.
© 2019. All images are copyrighted © by Christopher Steele-Perkins. Apart from fair dealing for the purpose of private study, research, criticism or review as permitted under the Copyright Act, the use of any image from this site is prohibited unless prior written permission is obtained. All images used for illustrative purposes only.
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| Mr Christopher Steele-Perkins |
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| Family Living in Poverty, Glasgow. 1975 |
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| Drum majorettes, London. 1975 |
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| Newcastle, England. 1975 |
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| London. The Teds. Tongue Tied Danny's wedding. 1976 |
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| Adam and Eve pub, Hackney, London, England. 1976 |
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| Bradford. Market Tavern. 1976 |
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| Oakland Vet Centre, Yarm. Operation on horse. 1976 |
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| Red Deer, Croydon. 1976 |
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| Belfast. Identification with the Provos is reflected in the play of the children in the Catholic ghettos. 1978 |
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| Boy with stone during disturbance. Belfast, Northern Ireland. 1978 |
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| Girls Dancing in Wolverhampton Club. 1978 |
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| Northern Ireland. Derry. Riot, 10° birthday. 1979 |
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| From The Pleasure Principle. 1980-89 |
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| From The Pleasure Principle. 1980-89 |
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| A cow is slaughtered in the early morning at a refugee camp, El Salvador. 1981 |
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| Drag Ball. 1982 |
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| On the beach with dog and donkeys. From The Pleasure Principle. 1982 |
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| Ethiopia. Feeding centre for people displaced by famine. 1983 |
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| Bolivia. A view of the capital city, La Paz. 1984 |
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| Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher during the Conservative Party Conference. 1985 |
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| USSR. Leningrad. cell of punishment in a prison. 1988 |
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| Hospital visit by Father Christmas, Postman Pat and his cat, 1989 |
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| Hampshire. Cricket match. 1989 |
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| London. Juliana's summer party.1989 |
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| Students under hypnosis at Spring Ball. 1989 |
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| Somalia. Mogadishu. A woman and her baby waiting at the S.O.S. Kinderdorf Children's Centre. 1992 |
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| Somalia. Child locked outside a feeding centre. 1992 |
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| Trying out artificial limbs at ICRC clinic in Kabul. Victims are mostly from landmine accidents. 1994 |
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| South Africa. Victim of an agression in the Hillbrow district. 1995 |
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| Afghanistan. Outside teahouse. 1998 |
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| Japan. Wakayama. Child with kite at Grand Spring Festival. 1998 |
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| Japan. Yamanashi. Hot spring, near Kawaguchiko.1999 |
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| Small pond in Kent. 2001 |
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| Wayne Armstrong hunting rabbits with ferrets and dogs. 2003. |
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| Slovakia. 2004 |
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| Comfort women. Kim Soon. 2006 |
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| Northern Ireland. Belfast Revisited. Owen Coogan and his wife Moira, daughter Niam and son Caolan. 2008 |
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| Obama City. Harbour looking out to Japan Sea towards China. 2008 |
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| Hand built matresses in the delivery wharehouse |
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| Holkham Estate, Norfolk. The Landscape team in the rear gardens |
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| Holkham Estate, Wells Next the Sea. Beach Huts |
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| Local food production |
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| Sumo wrestler Sentoryu ( real name Henry Miller) from USA retires |
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| Sweden. Haparanda. Wildlife park, the island of Sandskar |
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| Village confessional |
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| West Belfast. Outside Divis Flats |
Amazing and really touching photography
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