Collection comprising of a chronological 35mm negative sequence which represents the full timespan for which Johns worked as staff photographer for The Guardian in London (1965-80), plus some more recent pictures taken in his retirement. There is also a smaller sequence of vintage subject prints printed by Johns.
Photographs of Peter Johns
Archive Collection
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- ReferenceGB 2726 PNJ
- Dates of Creation1963-2004
- Name of Creator
- Language of MaterialEnglish
- Physical Description104 sets of negatives and contact prints, 7 vintage prints
Scope and Content
Administrative / Biographical History
Staff photographer for the Guardian, 1965-1981.
Born in Swansea, Peter Johns trained as an art teacher and illustrator at the city's art college. He started work in the 1950s as illustrator, and later photographer, for the South Wales Evening Post and Herald of Wales.
A series of photographs of Welsh miners brought his work the attention of both The Observer and The Guardian newspapers. He relocated to London as a full-time freelance photographer in 1961 and became a staff photographer for the Guardian in October 1965. He retired from the Guardian in 1981.
Johns shot for various publications and was part of a new wave of British photojournalists.
After leaving the newspaper, he relocated to Portugal where he set up his 'Photography Workshops Maritenda' and a restaurant and gallery space to sell his work in, before later retiring to Hastings.
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Other Finding Aids
A full catalogue description for this collection can be found on the GNM Archive catalogue.