Derek Workman Photograph Archives

Derek Workman was an accomplished musician and amateur photographer who loved to capture everyday life in his own unique way. By the time he died in 1978 he had documented much of the 20th century, but sadly most of his vast archive of negatives was lost. These (often intimate family portraits) remain; taken during the 1950’s they give an insight into post war Britain, and a slower simpler pace of life. Derek’s own life was to change drastically in the following decade when he fell in love with my mother, Elizabeth Lis. Over the next 14 years he would have 5 more children, myself included. The quiet simple life he had enjoyed was to change forever, and following the break up of their turbulant relationship, he died of a heart attack whilst preparing to play the organ in the church of St Mary, Padbury, Buckinghamshire.

These images, recently developed by his daughter hold particular poignance, revealing a way of life that has all but disappeared, yet which speak so eloquently to our own generation.