John Topham – The Knocker Upper, Limehouse, 1927

16 x 12″

Silver Gelatin print printed from original glass negative

Estate stamped

Edition 21

Printed by Robin Bell

Mrs Mary Smith wakes the dockers of Limehouse, London, with her peashooter in 1927. A long vanished job. This very famous photograph by John Topham was the first he ever licensed, and it prompted him to give up his career as a policeman and spend the rest of his life as a major photographer