Hackney People
Dennis Morris
There can be few people in the Western world that haven’t seen images of Bob Marley taken by Dennis Morris.
But less well known, is that this internationally acclaimed photographer started his career at St Mark’s Church in Dalston.
Dennis Morris was born in Jamaica then moved to Hackney, aged four. As a young boy growing up in the 1960s, church was a major part of community life, and it was there he joined a photography club set up by a patron of the church, Donald Paterson.
He says: “I was obsessed. I found something I could do.
When I had a camera in my hand I felt confident. Most of my friends were football mad but I spent all of my time taking photos.”
Many of Dennis’ earliest photographs were taken at political demonstrations.
Aged just 11, his photo of a PLO rally in London was published on the front of the Daily Mirror. He was paid £16.
His big break came when he met Bob Marley after a sound check. Bob took a shine to the ambitious 14-year-old and invited him to be official photographer for the rest of his UK tour.
“The next morning I packed my PE bag and went off with them on tour. We went to Blackpool, Leeds and all over, but then it snowed.
The rest of Bob’s band couldn’t handle the cold and wanted to go back to Jamaica, so they cancelled the tour and went home!”
They met again two years later, which was the start of a professional and personal relationship between them, that lasted until Bob Marley’s death in 1981. Dennis’ photos of Bob became famous the world over, appearing on the cover of Time Out and Melody Maker before he had even turned 17.
Not everyone was proud of Dennis’ achievements, he explains: “There was a lot of friction from the West Indian community because I was taking photos of a Rasta, and back then, Rastafarians had a bad reputation.
“But Bob spun that all around and gave Jamaicans an identity. I was out on a limb with some members of the community, but I believed in what I was doing, and I knew it was a vocation.”
His photojournalistic style caught the eye of other popular artists; and he would become The Sex Pistols main photographer, and go onto to build a reputation as a rock photographer working with Marianne Faithful, Grace Jones, Oasis and Tricky among others.
Dennis works and exhibits around the globe, but has recently returned to his old stomping ground. He has donated a collection of photos to Hackney Museum, which will be exhibited throughout Black History Month in October. Growing Up Black shows how the West Indian community lived in Hackney in the 1960s and 70s.
Curriculum Vitae
- 1975 Met Bob Marley
- 1976-77 Photographer for the Sex Pistols
- 1980 Art Director of Island Records – designed album covers for LKJ, Marianne Faithfull, Bob Marley
- 1981 Formed Basement 5, an avantgarde punk rock reggae band
- 1999 ‘Southall, a Home from Home’, at Tom Blau Gallery, London
- 2002 ‘Reggae’, Inside Space, London
- 2004 ‘Growing Up Black’, Wedge Gallery, Toronto; ‘Bob Marley, a Rebel Life’, Sydney Opera House
- 2005 ‘Destroy’, HEP Museum, Osaka; Hope and Glory, Max Wigram Gallery, London
- 2006 Travelling Guitars (group show), Cite de la Musique, Paris
- 2007 ‘Legends’, WA Gallery, Seoul; ‘African Pavilion’ (group show), 52nd Venice Biennale
- 2008 ‘Building Bridges: 8 Visions,One Dream’ (group show), Today Art Museum, Beijing
- 2009 Who Shot Rock (group show), Brooklyn Museum, Paris
More information
For more details visit: www.dennismorris.com
Page updated: 21 Sep 2009