Our newsletter this month features photographs from a newly-represented collection, Sepia Images, as well as lots more from older favourites Roger Mayne and Onslows Auctioneers.

We also look at the 80th anniversary of Gandhi’s Salt March in defiance of British rule in India.

A Middle Eastern odyssey

We are proud to represent many small, specialised historical collections that offer a focused viewpoint and, despite their limited nature, reward time spent in exploration.

The latest of these is Sepia Images, with 123 pictures freshly uploaded to our website. The photographs date from the 1920s and 1930s, with subject matter ranging from children and family groups in Britain to engineering, transport and military activity in the colonial Middle East. Biplanes, trains, motor cars and boats, as well as Middle Eastern architecture, people and Arabic society in the early 20th century all feature. In particular, many images relate to the deployment overseas of the new British Royal Air Force, in the period following World War One, and provide a fascinating view of colonial life.

For a selection of these photographic footprints through the society of the time, please click here.

These mean streets

We have been representing photographer Roger Mayne for nearly 20 years, and are delighted to be able to offer a new batch of 800 images on our site. Some of these are from the acclaimed series of street photographs that Mayne took in the late 1950s and 1960s of the North Kensington area of London. Southam Street, the subject of many images, was declared unfit for human habitation in 1963 and demolition began in 1968. The photographs record a communal life that vanished with the changing environment. The outdoor space of these images becomes a playground for games of cricket, football or skipping; an antidote to the confined slum interiors of the terraces, and a place for release and the forging of community.

Other photographs were taken further afield, in Paris, Venice, Goa and Tokyo, as well as in the East End of London, Nottingham, Middlesbrough and Dublin. Everywhere Mayne finds vitality, rhythm and the unpredictability of a moment seized in time.

Click here to see some of these irrepressible images.

Onslows update

Another substantially updated collection this month is that of Onslows Auctioneers, who specialise in highly-coloured 20th-century posters for everything from Cunard to Austin Reed to the Empire Marketing Board.

They also have unrivalled material relating to the Titanic, including photographs, tickets, letters and other memorabilia, which with the 100th anniversary of the infamous disaster approaching in 2012, will be much sought after.

We have recently uploaded an additional 700 or so eye-catching Onslows images, a selection of which can be viewed here.

Who Do You Think You Are? LIVE

Thank you to all those who dropped by our stand at the Who Do You Think You Are? LIVE show in London last week. The national history show was a great success once again with its mix of workshops, expert seminars and celebrity memories. We were delighted to be offering a service enabling people to choose and make prints direct from technology on our stand, which was a great way of making history and heritage more readily available to the public.

And for those who weren’t able to attend, a quick reminder that for high quality historical prints with thousands to choose from, www.prints-online.com is the place to go.

The Salt March

This month sees the 80th anniversary of the beginning of the Salt March, the mass protest led by Mohandas Gandhi against a tax on salt, the symbolism of which contributed to the progress of Indian independence from Britain.

Known as Mahatma “Great Soul”, Gandhi was born in 1869 in Gujarat and studied law in London before accepting a job at an Indian law firm in South Africa. He witnessed appalling discrimination against the Indian community and began to formulate his life-long philosophies of commitment to truth and non-violent protest. Returning to India and the oppression of the British Raj he pioneered Satyagraha, resistance to tyranny through mass civil disobedience.

Gandhi’s first target was the British Salt Act of 1882 which had been steadily strengthened to forbid all unofficial salt production and sale and had resulted in such high salt prices that the poorest were unable to afford this dietary staple. On 12th March 1930, Gandhi and his followers began to walk from Sabarmathi Ashram to Dandi on the Arabian Sea coast, a distance of some 240 miles.

On their arrival on 6th April, Gandhi picked up a handful of salty mud and declared “With this, I am shaking the foundations of the British Empire”. He entreated his followers to follow his example in breaking the salt laws. Thousands across India did so by producing or buying illegal salt, leading to the arrest of over sixty thousand people by the British authorities. The worldwide media attention brought about by this act coupled with Gandhi’s inspirational leadership and determination over many years encouraged the British government to begin a series of negotiations, finally leading to the formation of an independent Indian state in 1947.

For a selection of images of Gandhi and the Salt Satyagraha, please click here.

Let us know what you think

We welcome your feedback about this newsletter or any aspect of the Mary Evans Picture Library. Please write to us at pictures@maryevans.com. If you'd rather be unsubscribed from our mailing list, please click here.

Best wishes,

Mary Evans Picture Library