Lewis Morley

LEWIS MORLEY (Hong Kong, 1925-Sidney, 2013).
"Christine Keeler," 1963.
Gelatin silver.
Signed, titled and dated in ink (in the margin).
Provenance: Bennett Private Collection, New York.
Measurements: 31.5 x 25 cm (image); 36 x 28.9 cm (paper).

After cabaret performer and dancer Christine Keeler had an affair with a minister in Harold Macmillan's government, which brought the Conservative Party into disrepute in what became known as the Profumo affair, she was called to do a photo shoot at Lewis Morley's studio. The events took place because a film production company intended to make a movie about the scandal and needed some publicity photographs. Although Keeler had initially agreed to be photographed nude, when she arrived at the studio she was reluctant to do so. For this reason, Lewis Morley began the photo shoot by capturing the model with her clothes on, but the film company's representatives insisted that she pose nude. The photographer, sensing Keeler's discomfort, had the others present leave and, turning his back to her while Keeler undressed, suggested that she pose on the studio chair placed upside down.

Lewis Morley began his career with assignments for magazines such as Tatler and was a successful theater photographer for over 100 West End productions. His publicity photographs for Beyond The Fringe magazine (1961) included a study of the cast Peter Cook, Dudley Moore, Alan Bennett and Jonathan Miller, which was used for the cover of the show's best-selling LP. In 1971 he moved to Sydney, where he worked on magazines such as Belle and with interior designers and stylists such as Babette Hayes and Charmaine Solomon. In 1989 he collaborated with photography curator Terence Pepper in staging his first museum retrospective at the National Portrait Gallery in London and subsequently donated all the images printed for the exhibition as part of a larger archive of his work. His first autobiography, Black and White Lies, was published in 1992. In 2003, a film about his life was released and an exhibition entitled Myself and Eye was held at the National Portrait Gallery in Canberra. In 2006, the Art Gallery of New South Wales presented a comprehensive exhibition showcasing 50 years of his work. Entitled Lewis Morley: 50 Years of Photography, the exhibition included 150 of his works spanning fashion, theater and reportage, many of which had never been seen before. After his death his archive was subsequently donated to the National Media Museum in Bradford, England.