Lewis Morley

Lewis Morley (1925–2013) established his reputation as one of the key British photographers of the 1960s and is known for his iconic image of a nude Christine Keeler straddling an Arne Jacobsen chair. He ran a highly successful studio above London's first satirical venue, the Establishment Club, where he formed important associations with Peter Cook, Dudley Moore, Barry Humphries and a range of as yet undiscovered young talents including Michael Caine who frequented the hip venue. Many of the faces he captured on film define the swinging sixties scene in London, including portraits of Charlotte Rampling, Vanessa Redgrave, Judy Dench, Jean Shrimpton and Peter O'Toole. He worked extensively for theatre and television, becoming sought after for his particular style of 'on location' and 'action' photography and portraiture. Migrating to Sydney in 1971, Morley found 'the sixties all over again'. Despite this, working in a new country in a new decade his work underwent a dramatic shift in approach to style and format. Shooting increasingly in colour for magazines such as Dolly, POL and Belle, Morley's Australian work provides an evocative record of culture change through the 1970s and 1980s. Portraits from this era include images of Peter Carey, Brett Whiteley, Nicole Kidman, Marcia Hines, Sherbet and John Newcombe. The National Portrait Gallery held an exhibition of his work, Myself and Eye, in 2003; Lewis Morley: 50 Years of Photography was staged at the Art Gallery of New South Wales in 2006.