John Claridge

Having grown up in a boxing family, Claridge has taken over 100 photographs of members of the London Ex-Boxer's Association, which were serially published by The Gentle Author, 2012-2013.

Of Claridge's Soho Faces project (2004-2017) he said, "I decided to document the customers at The French in earnest. For me, it was the one place in Soho that still held its Bohemian character, where people truly chose to share time and conversation, and I became aware that many I had once chinked glasses with were no longer around."

He began taking the jazz portraits series while living in his flat above Ronnie Scott's. In 1986, he photographed Chet Baker in the club:

In 1961 he left to become assistant to David Montgomery and in 1964 he opened his own studio in London. His first commissions were for Management Today, Queen, Town, Harper’s, and Nova magazines. He went on to work for many types of companies, especially tourist boards and car companies. From 1976 to 1989, Claridge lived and had his darkroom in a flat on Frith Street, Soho, above Ronnie Scott’s Jazz Club. He shot the 1993 Pirelli Calendar. In April 2018, The Association of Photographers included Claridge in its 50th anniversary exhibition of some the world's most respected photographers. His work is held in the collections of The Arts Council of Great Britain, the Victoria & Albert Museum, the National Portrait Gallery and The Museum of Modern Art. He has won over 700 awards for his editorial and advertising work in the 1960s.

Claridge began taking photos of the East End as a teenager in the 1960s. The series was published as a book (East End) in 2016.

John Claridge (born 1944) is a British photographer, known for his work in advertising, black and white portraits in Soho and street photographs in the East End of London.