Godfrey Thurston Hopkins (16 April 1913 – 27 October 2014), known as Thurston Hopkins, was a well-known British ''Picture Post''

photojournalist Photojournalism is journalism that uses images to tell a news story. It usually only refers to still images, but can also refer to video used in broadcast journalism. Photojournalism is distinguished from other close branches of photography (such ...

and a centenarian.

Education

Hopkins was born on 16 April 1913 in south London, son of Sybil (née Bateley) and

Robert Thurston Hopkins Robert Thurston Hopkins (1884–1958) was a British writer and ghost hunter. Hopkins was born in Bury St. Edmunds, Suffolk in 1884. Hopkins wrote biographical works on Rudyard Kipling and Oscar Wilde. He also wrote books on the English country ...

(1884–1958), a bank cashier and prolific author of topographical works, ghost stories, and biographies of British writers

Oscar Wilde Oscar Fingal O'Flahertie Wills Wilde (16 October 185430 November 1900) was an Irish poet and playwright. After writing in different forms throughout the 1880s, he became one of the most popular playwrights in London in the early 1890s. He is ...

H. G. Wells Herbert George Wells"Wells, H. G."
Revised 18 May 2015. ''

Rudyard Kipling Joseph Rudyard Kipling ( ; 30 December 1865 – 18 January 1936)''The Times'', (London) 18 January 1936, p. 12. was an English novelist, short-story writer, poet, and journalist. He was born in British India, which inspired much of his work. ...

. The family lived in

Sussex Sussex (), from the Old English (), is a historic county in South East England that was formerly an independent medieval Anglo-Saxon kingdom. It is bounded to the west by Hampshire, north by Surrey, northeast by Kent, south by the English ...

and Godfrey, who came to be known as Thurston, was educated at St Joseph's Salesian school at

Burwash Burwash, archaically known as Burghersh, is a rural village and civil parish in the Rother district of East Sussex, England. Situated in the High Weald of Sussex some 15 miles (24 km) inland from the port of Hastings, it is located five m ...

, near Kipling's home in

East Sussex East Sussex is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South East England on the English Channel coast. It is bordered by Kent to the north and east, West Sussex to the west, and Surrey to the north-west. The largest settlement in East Su ...

, and at Montpelier college,

Brighton Brighton () is a seaside resort and one of the two main areas of the City of Brighton and Hove in the county of East Sussex, England. It is located south of London. Archaeological evidence of settlement in the area dates back to the Bronze A ...

Early work

Hopkins studied under Morgan Rendle at

Brighton College of Art Brighton () is a seaside resort and one of the two main areas of the City of Brighton and Hove in the county of East Sussex, England. It is located south of London. Archaeological evidence of settlement in the area dates back to the Bronze A ...

in graphic art and taught himself photography, his pictures being used for some of his father's books. He found employment with a publisher adding decorative frames to portraits of

Edward VIII Edward VIII (Edward Albert Christian George Andrew Patrick David; 23 June 1894 – 28 May 1972), later known as the Duke of Windsor, was King of the United Kingdom and the Dominions of the British Empire and Emperor of India from 20 January 19 ...

, which the King's abdication on 10 December 1936 brought to an abrupt end. With the shift to photography from illustration amongst newspaper publishers, he joined the PhotoPress Agency.Craig, Charles. (1982).
The British documentary photograph as a medium of information and propaganda during the Second World War 1939–1945
' (PDF). Doctoral dissertation, Middlesex Polytechnic. They lent him his first camera; a Goerz Anschutz which he found cumbersome. It was not until serving in the RAF Photographic Unit during the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

in Italy and the

Middle East The Middle East ( ar, الشرق الأوسط, ISO 233: ) is a geopolitical region commonly encompassing Arabian Peninsula, Arabia (including the Arabian Peninsula and Bahrain), Anatolia, Asia Minor (Asian part of Turkey except Hatay Pro ...

from 1940 that he acquired a more portable

35 mm format 135 film, more popularly referred to as 35 mm film or 35 mm, is a format of photographic film used for still photography. It is a film with a film gauge of loaded into a standardized type of magazine – also referred to as a casse ...

Leica Leica Camera AG () is a German company that manufactures cameras, optical lenses, photographic lenses, binoculars, rifle scopes and microscopes. The company was founded by Ernst Leitz in 1869 (Ernst Leitz Wetzlar), in Wetzlar, Germany. ...

which apart from occasional use of a Rolleiflex, he continued to prefer for the rest of his career.

''Picture Post''

After being demobilised, Hopkins hitchhiked around Europe for a while taking photographs. Back in England he worked for Camera Press, the agency founded in London in 1947 by Tom Blau. Having seen issues of '' Picture Post'' at military posts everywhere during his service he developed a keen ambition to work for this. Founded in 1938 and funded by publisher Edward Hulton, the magazine's first editor was Hungarian émigré

Stefan Lorant Stefan Lorant ( hu, Lóránt István; February 22, 1901 in Budapest, Austria-Hungary – November 14, 1997 in Rochester, Minnesota) was a pioneering Hungarian-American filmmaker, photojournalist, and author. Early work He was born on February 22 ...

(1901–1997) assisted by

Tom Hopkinson Sir Henry Thomas Hopkinson (19 April 1905 – 20 June 1990) was a British journalist, picture magazine editor, author, and teacher. Early life Born in Manchester, his father was a Church of England clergyman and a scholar, and his mother had ...

(1905–1990), who took over as editor from 1940. The image-centric format, left-leaning and reasonably-priced publication was highly successful and circulation soon rose to over a million. Its photographers, including Bert Hardy,

Kurt Hutton Kurt Hutton (born Kurt Hübschmann; 1893 in Strasbourg – 1960) was a German-born photographer who pioneered photojournalism in England. Life Beginning his career with the Dephot agency in Germany, he migrated to England in 1934 and worked for ...

Humphrey Spender Humphrey Spender (19 April 1910 – 11 March 2005) was a British photographer, painter, and designer. Family and education Humphrey Spender was the third son of Harold Spender, a journalist and writer. Humphrey's mother, Violet Schuster, came ...

, Leonard McCombe, John Chillingworth and

Bill Brandt Bill Brandt (born Hermann Wilhelm Brandt; 2 May 1904 – 20 December 1983)Paul DelanyBill Brandt: A Life was a British photographer and photojournalist. Born in Germany, Brandt moved to England, where he became known for his images of British ...

, went out with the writers on stories together, working as colleagues, not competitors. By producing a dummy issue composed entirely of his own features, Hopkins persuaded ''Picture Post'' to take him on as a freelancer, and from the mid-1950s as a staffer working exclusively for the magazine.Jay, B. (1993). Album: Two Editorials. ''History of Photography'' 17 (1), 10–12. One of his first essays was his popular 'Cats of London' (24 February 1951), a series made whilst working as a freelancer on other stories during which he would find stray cats living in the many bomb sites and back alleys. His best known photograph drew on this talent with animals. Entitled ''La Dolce Vita, Knightsbridge, London, 1953'' the picture shows a limousine owner-driver with a regal poodle sitting bolt upright in the passenger seat. Ripe for commercial exploitation, it became a best selling postcard, poster and calendar image. In support of the ''Post''s social consciousness, Hopkins produced stories on children playing on the city streets in an effort to have the need for dedicated playgrounds recognised. His 1956 story on the slums of Liverpool, however, was spiked when the municipal administrators protested to the magazine's proprietor Edward Hulton, over its negative portrayal of the city. At ''Picture Post'' Hopkins met, and in 1955 married, another photographer:

Grace Robertson Grace Robertson (13 July 1930Ms Grace Robertson, OBE
Debret ...

, who worked under the byline ''Dick Muir'' to get work at Simon Guttman's ''Report'' agency in an era when women were at a disadvantage in the industry.

Later career

With the closure of ''Picture Post'' in 1957, Hopkins conducted business as one of London's more successful advertising photographers from his studio in

Chiswick Chiswick ( ) is a district of west London, England. It contains Hogarth's House, the former residence of the 18th-century English artist William Hogarth; Chiswick House, a neo-Palladian villa regarded as one of the finest in England; and Full ...

before taking up teaching at the

Guildford School of Art Guildford School of Art was formed in 1856 as Guildford Working Men's Institution and was one of several schools of art run by Surrey County Council. After several mergers with tertiary art institutions it became part of the University for the ...

, a major British course in photography under Ifor Thomas. In his rural retirement Hopkins returned to his interest in painting. Hopkins worked well into his old age and died a centenarian on 27 October 2014, survived by wife Grace, his daughter, Joanna, his son, Robert, and a granddaughter, Cressida.

Legacy

Photographs by salaried staff of ''Picture Post'' were retained in copyright by the Hulton empire; and when the magazine closed, the archive was sold to the

British Broadcasting Corporation #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...

, and then to Brian Deutsch. The collection, including all of Hopkins pictures he made for the ''Post,'' is now owned and managed by

Getty Images Getty Images Holdings, Inc. is an American visual media company and is a supplier of stock images, editorial photography, video and music for business and consumers, with a library of over 477 million assets. It targets three markets— creative ...

Exhibitions

Solo

* 1977 ''Thurston Hopkins'', Arts Council Collection, Southbank Centre, London, 1 January 1977 – 1 December 1977 * 1993 ''After Dark'', Zelda Cheatle Gallery, Covent Garden, London.''American Photo'', June 1989, page 8, Vol. 22, No. 6, ISSN 1046-8986 * 2003/4 ''The Golden Age of Reportage: Thurston Hopkins,'' Getty Images Gallery, London, 30 October 2003 – 2 January 2004 * 2005 ''A Song of the British: Thurston Hopkins'', Leica Gallery, New York, 20 May – 18 Jun 2005

Group

* 2005 ''Dedans-Dehors: Le Portugal en photographies'', Centre Calouste Gulbenkian, Collection de la Caixa Geral de Depósitos, Paris, France, 18 May – 12 July 2005. * 2010 ''A Positive View: The Third Edition'', Somerset House, South Building, London, 10 March – 5 April 2010 * 2015 ''Beneath the Surface,'' Somerset House, South Building, London, with

Brassaï Brassaï (; pseudonym of Gyula Halász; 9 September 1899 – 8 July 1984) was a Hungarian–French photographer, sculptor, medalist, writer, and filmmaker who rose to international fame in France in the 20th century. He was one of the numerous H ...

Susan Derges Susan Derges (born 1955) is a British photographic artist living and working in Devon. She specialises in camera-less photographic processes, most often working with natural landscapes. She has exhibited extensively in Europe, America and Ja ...

, Sinje Dillenkofer,

John Gay John Gay (30 June 1685 – 4 December 1732) was an English poet and dramatist and member of the Scriblerus Club. He is best remembered for ''The Beggar's Opera'' (1728), a ballad opera. The characters, including Captain Macheath and Polly Peac ...

, Stephen Gill. 21 May – 24 August 2015 * 2016 ''An Ideal For Living: Photographing Class, Culture and Identity in Modern Britain'', Huxley-Parlour Gallery, London, with 21 others including

Richard Billingham Richard Billingham (born 25 September 1970) is an English photographer and artist, film maker and art teacher. His work has mostly concerned his family, the place he grew up in the West Midlands, but also landscapes elsewhere. Billingham is bes ...

John Bulmer John is a common English name and surname: * John (given name) * John (surname) John may also refer to: New Testament Works * Gospel of John, a title often shortened to John * First Epistle of John, often shortened to 1 John * Second ...

Henri Cartier-Bresson Henri Cartier-Bresson (; 22 August 1908 – 3 August 2004) was a French humanist photographer considered a master of candid photography, and an early user of 35mm film. He pioneered the genre of street photography, and viewed photography as cap ...

, Bruce Davidson. 27 July – 17 September 2016 * 2016 Fine Photographs and Photobooks, Bloomsbury Auctions, London, with 31 others including

Berenice Abbott Berenice Alice Abbott (July 17, 1898 – December 9, 1991) was an American photographer best known for her portraits of between-the-wars 20th century cultural figures, New York City photographs of architecture and urban design of the 1930s, and ...

Eve Arnold Eve Arnold, OBE (honorary), FRPS (honorary) (née Cohen; April 21, 1912January 4, 2012) was an American photojournalist, long-resident in the UK. She joined Magnum Photos agency in 1951, and became a full member in 1957. She was the first woma ...

David Bailey David Royston Bailey (born 2 January 1938) is an English photographer and director, most widely known for his fashion photography and portraiture, and role in shaping the image of the Swinging Sixties. Early life David Bailey was born at Wh ...

Édouard Baldus Édouard Baldus (June 5, 1813, Grünebach, Prussia – 1889, Arcueil) was a French landscape, architectural and railway photographer. Biography Early life Édouard-Denis Baldus was born on June 5, 1813, in Grünebach, Prussia. He was originally ...

, Cecil Beaton. 15–20 October 2016 * 2016 ''British Photographers at Home and Abroad'', Keith de Lellis Gallery, New York with Cecil Beaton, Ian Berry, John Bulmer,

Larry Burrows Henry Frank Leslie Burrows (29 May 1926 – 10 February 1971), known as Larry Burrows, was an English photojournalist. He spent 9 years covering the Vietnam War. Early career Burrows began his career in the art department of the Daily Express ...

Graham Finlayson Graham Scott Finlayson (1932–1999)British photojournalists 1913 births 2014 deaths Street photographers Children's games British magazine people 20th-century British photographers British centenarians Men centenarians Photographers from London Picture Post photojournalists