Ben Uri Research Unit

Born: 1910 Enfield, England

Died: 2002 Painswick, England

Other name/s: Eric Samuel de Maré

Biography

Photographer Eric de Maré was born to Swedish parents on 10 September 1910 in Enfield, England. Brought up in London, his interest in photography began early: he received a Kodak Box Brownie at the age of ten and a more advanced camera from his father when he was sixteen. From 1928–33 he studied architecture at the Architectural Association (AA) in London, where he first published and exhibited photographs and encountered modern European architecture, particularly the more ‘humane’ Scandinavian variants of Modernism (Makepeace, RIBAPix). He qualified as an architect and was elected an Associate of the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) in 1934.

During the 1930s, de Maré worked for architectural practices in Britain and also spent time working in Scandinavia, but became dissatisfied with the restricted role available to him in professional practice. Alongside architecture, he developed a lasting commitment to the economic ideas of Social Credit, which sought to distribute the benefits of technological production more widely and reduce dependence on paid employment. He served as treasurer of the Social Credit Party and later incorporated its principles into writings on architecture, culture and economics.

Rejected for active military service on health grounds during the Second World War, he undertook camouflage work. In 1943 he became editor of the Architects’ Journal, remaining in the post until 1946, while also contributing to its sister publication, the Architectural Review. Leaving editorial work to become a freelance writer and photographer, de Maré established his reputation through projects that combined architectural criticism, travel and carefully composed images. His 1948 Architectural Review article on Sweden’s ‘New Empiricism’ promoted an informal, human-centred architecture employing natural materials as an alternative to the austerity of pre-war International Modernism.

That year he also travelled extensively through Britain’s canal network, photographing bridges, locks, warehouses, boatmen and functional objects threatened by neglect and modernisation. During his canal survey, he isolated bollards, lock valves and balance beams, revealing unintended sculptural qualities in objects designed solely for practical use. Published in a special issue of the Architectural Review in 1949 and as The Canals of England in 1950, these images drew attention to the aesthetic and social value of industrial waterways and contributed to the emerging campaign for their preservation. De Maré extended this investigation in The Functional Tradition in Early Industrial Buildings (1958), produced with the architectural writer J. M. Richards. His photographs of mills, dockyards, warehouses, breweries, windmills, fishermen’s huts and other utilitarian structures revealed a native tradition of direct construction, strong geometry and honest materials. For de Maré, this ‘Functional Tradition’ represented an architecture created without stylistic pretension, in which form arose directly from function, construction and the economical use of brick, timber and iron. By presenting such buildings as a native precedent for Modernism, his photographs challenged the assumption that modern architectural principles had simply been imported into Britain from continental Europe. As he explained, architectural photography was ‘building with light’ (Eric de Maré, Photography and Architecture, 1961). His framing, tonal contrasts and sensitivity to texture transformed overlooked structures into compelling architectural compositions, while the frequent inclusion of people supplied scale, movement and social context. The book influenced post-war architects such as James Stirling, while de Maré’s photographs also inspired later practioners, such as Norman Foster, Richard MacCormac and Michael Hopkins. It also strengthened arguments for the conservation of Britain’s industrial heritage. His work broadened the accepted scope of architectural photography by locating architectural significance in anonymous, vernacular and apparently accidental forms. He regarded the photographer not simply as a recorder but as a form of architectural critic, able through framing, viewpoint and selection to praise, question or reinterpret the built environment (Makepeace, RIBAPix; Higgott 2015).

A prolific author and illustrator, de Maré produced more than twenty books. These included Bridges of Britain (1954), Photography (1957), London’s Riverside (1958), Photography and Architecture (1961), Wren’s London (1975) and Architectural Photography (1975). His Penguin handbook Photography was issued in seven editions by 1980 and introduced the medium to a broad readership. He also photographed contemporary architecture, historic cities and monuments across Britain and Europe, while increasingly campaigning for threatened Victorian landmarks such as the Euston Arch and the Coal Exchange. His photographs were distinguished by their lyrical atmosphere, formal clarity and use of light, shadow, silhouette and material detail.

In 1990 the AA marked his eightieth birthday with an exhibition and the publication Builder with Light, while architect Michael Hopkins helped secure de Maré’s negative archive for the AA Photo Library. He was also appointed a Royal Designer for Industry by the Royal Society of Arts. Eric de Maré died in Painswick, Gloucestershire, England on 22 January 2002. In 2020 his work was included in Forms of Industry: Photographs by Alastair Philip Wiper and Eric de Maré at the RIBA Architecture Gallery, London. In the UK public domain his work is represented in the RIBA collection.

Irene Iacono

Related books

Andrew Higgott, ‘Eric de Maré. In Search of the Functional Tradition’, AA Files, No. 70, 2015, pp. 144–151
Robert Elwall, Eric de Maré (London: RIBA Publishing, 2000)
Andrew Higgott, Eric de Maré: Between the Functional and the Beautiful, The Journal of Architecture, 2016, No. 21, pp, 873–889
Alan Powers, ‘Maré, Eric Samuel de’, in H. C. G. Matthew ed., Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2009)
‘Eric de Maré’, The Times, 5 February 2002, p. 17
Eric de Maré and Andrew Higgott, Eric de Maré: Photographer, Builder with Light (London: Architectural Association, 1990)
Eric de Maré, Architectural Photography (Batsford, London, 1975)
Eric de Maré, The Nautical Style: An Aspect of the Functional Tradition (London: Architectural Press, 1973)
Eric De Maré and Erik Liljeroth, Swedish Cross Cut: a Book on the Göta Canal (Malmö: Allhems Förlag, 1964)
Eric de Maré, Photography and Architecture (London: Architectural Press, 1961)
Eric de Maré, London's Riverside: Past, Present and Future (M. Reinhardt, London, 1958)
J. M. Richards ed., photographs by Eric de Maré, ‘The Functional Tradition as Shown in Early Industrial Buildings’, The Architectural Review, Vol. 122, July 1957, pp. 3–73
Eric de Maré, New Ways of Servicing Buildings (London: Architectural Press, 1954)
Eric de Maré, Bridges of Britain (London: B. T. Batsford, 1954)
Eric de Maré, Scandinavia: Sweden, Denmark and Norway (London: B. T. Batsford, 1952)
Eric de Maré, The Canals of England (London: Architectural Press, 1950)
Eric de Maré, Britain Rebuilt (London: Sidgwick & Jackson, 1942)

Related organisations

Architects’ Journal (editor)
Architectural Association (student)
RIBA (Associate)
Royal Society of Art (Royal Designer for Industry)

Selected exhibitions

Forms of Industry: Photographs by Alastair Philip Wiper and Eric de Maré, RIBA, London (2020)
Builder with Ligh, Architectural Association, London (1990)

Ben Uri archive

Consult items in the Ben Uri archive related to [Eric de Maré]

Ben Uri Research Unit

for the study and digital recording of the Jewish, Refugee and wide Immigrant contribution to British visual culture since 1900.

Eric de Maré photographer