Patrick Ward: Renowned documentary photographer.
Patrick Ward is one of the finest and possibly most unheralded British documentary photographers. He has been working for more than sixty years. Find out more about his fascinating career in the interview below.
BIOGRAPHY
Patrick Ward began his career as an assistant to the Picture Post photographer John Chillingworth, before starting out on his own as an independent documentary photographer in the early 1960s.
Ward took photographs for numerous magazines and publications throughout his career, whilst at the same time focussing on his own personal projects and producing many illustrated books.
In 1969 Ward was commissioned by the Architectural Review to spend six weeks recording the frustrations of daily life in Britain, which was published as a 70-page special edition as part of their “Manplan” manifesto. This collection of photographs was subsequently re-published in his book titled ‘Frustration’ in December 2023.
He received a Bicentennial Fellowship Grant in 1981, which he spent travelling through the USA to document various events and American ways of life. A few years earlier Ward had been to the USA to photograph the Hell’s Angles motorcycle club known as The Dirty Dozen.
Though Ward has travelled far and wide throughout his photography career, he is particularly well-known for his photographs of British life which mostly came from his self-assigned and personal projects.
It has been said that he is one of the finest and possibly most unheralded British documentary photographers. He has been working for more than sixty years.
