ONE of this country’s most famous social photographers, Humphrey Spender, is the subject of a talk at the Firstsite Gallery, in Colchester, this weekend.

The Maldon-based artist had a colourful career and exhibited his artwork alongside Pablo Picasso.

But it is as a social documentary photographer that he is probably best known for today.

Inside the climate-controlled gallery at Firstsite is a collection of his iconic prints from his famous Thirties street-life surveys in which he photographed the lives of everyday working-class families in the East End of London.

Working as a photojournalist for the Daily Mirror and weekly magazine Picture Post, Spender was one of the first photographers to use a 35mm camera, which enabled him to get in among his subjects without being noticed.

On Saturday, writer, journalist, and long-time friend of Spender, Peter Parker, will be giving an illustrated talk about the artist.

He first met Spender at his Maldon home while he was writing a biographer of writer Christopher Isherwood.

He says: “Humphrey was a part of that set that included Isherwood and W H Auden, although he was far too modest to admit to it, preferring to say he was just on the fringes.

“It’s true to say he is now most famous for his photographs, but he was an accomplished artist as well.

“Whenever you went to visit him, he would always invite you into the studio and would always be delighted, because he always had something fascinating to show you.”

After Spender died in 2005, Peter remained friends with his widow, Rachel, and is now working on setting up a trust to safeguard his archive.

He adds: “Unfortunately, when Humphrey moved house, he threw away a lot of the negatives of his photographs thinking no one would be interested them, so photos of people like E M Forster have been lost.

“The aim of the trust will be that eventually we will have an idea of what is still out there in terms of his work and making sure it is looked after for the future.”