“Photographers don’t grow old – they just grow out of focus”

Join us for the eighth chapter of the Sussex Women Supper Club; an occasional series of events celebrating the life and times of notable women and non-binary people who have lived and worked in Sussex. This evening, we celebrate the life of the trailblazing late photographer, Marilyn Stafford, in conversation with documentary photographer / FotoDocument founder, Nina Emett, who Marilyn worked closely with to bring her work to the public eye, and Marilyn's daughter Lina Clerke.

Born in Cleveland, Ohio, USA, in 1925, Marilyn Stafford (née Gerson) lived an extraordinary and trailblazing life, moving to New York City to pursue acting, on to Paris where Henri Cartier-Bresson was to become her photography mentor, to Rome, Beirut, London and, finally, to Sussex. 

Marilyn Stafford’s internationally published work spans from 1948-1980. She photographed many famous and influential people during her fascinating life including Albert Einstein, Édith Piaf, Indira Gandhi and Sir Richard Attenborough. She witnessed and documented significant, and sometimes turbulent, periods of modern social and political history.

Her humanitarian work captured the plights of many ordinary people, including refugees, Parisian children living in slum housing and the illiterate Sicilian peasant woman who took the Mafia to trial for murdering her son. Marilyn documented the Algerian War of Independence in 1958, peacetime Lebanon in the 1960s and India’s intervention in the Bangladesh Liberation War in 1971. Alongside her humanitarian focused work, she took advantage of the opportunities open to her as a woman photographer, particularly commissioned portraits and international fashion, which she did in her way through her unique gaze.

In 2017, the Marilyn Stafford FotoReportage Award for women photographers was launched in her honour by FotoDocument and is supported by Nikon UK.

Marilyn spent the final years of her extraordinary life living in Shoreham, where she died on the 2nd January 2023 at the age of 97. Find out more about Marilyn here.

Join us for an illustrated exploration of her life and work. 

Please remember that the Sussex Women Supper Club is about women but not exclusively for them! Whoever you are and wherever you are from, you are warmly invited to join us. Everyone is welcome to learn about the fascinating women of Sussex.

AT THE TALK, NINA & LINA WILL BE SELLING THE SECOND EDITION OF ‘MARILYN STAFFORD - A LIFE IN PHOTOGRAPHY’ WHICH THEY CO-EDITED. IT WAS PUBLISHED IN 2024 BY BLUECOAT PRESS. PLEASE BRING £50 IN CASH TO PURCHASE YOUR COPY AT THE EVENT!

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How the evening goes:

6.30 - Doors open. Tea & refreshments available

7.00 - Illustrated talk commences in the hall

7.45 - Conversation and reflections with the audience

8.45 - Close

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Proceeds from the evening support the work of Hospitable Environment CIC, a socially engaged community arts and wellbeing organisation based in Newhaven, East Sussex. We explore what it takes to create safe, connected and sustainable communities by gathering people together around shared food and creative experiences.

We look forward to seeing you.

Above: Indira Gandhi (1917-1984), New Delhi, 1971. Boarding her private plane. Following the war with Pakistan, Indira Gandhi toured India visiting army bases, hospitals and speaking at mass rallies.

Below: Algerian mother with children, refugees from the Algerian War of Independence, at a refugee camp near the bombed village of Sakiet, Tunisia, 1958. Both by Marilyn Stafford.

The Small Print

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