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Gentleman: Photographs of the most private gentlemen's clubs of 1980s London

In her intriguing series Gentlemen, Karen Knorr takes us inside the hallowed halls of the most venerable private gentlemen’s clubs of 1980s London, and considers the patriarchal values of the English upper classes with beautifully precise photographs and texts constructed out of speeches of parliament and the news at that time.

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Man in a dark suit sits contemplatively in a leather chair beside velvet curtains in an ornate 1980s London gentlemen's club, gazing out at Georgian townhouses through a tall sash window

The series of 26 images and texts investigates the values that ally these classes to conservative aristocratic values where primogeniture (the right by law of the firstborn son to inherit his parent’s estate, in preference to daughters) is still an issue. Until the early 1970s, a married women still needed her husband’s endorsement for any household purchases. Whilst women now have full property rights, they still remain under-represented in key positions of governance and in financial and academic worlds. It is still a boy's club in which some women are honorary members.

Karen explains: "I wanted to make work that used humour to explore attitudes prevalent amongst the English establishment in the 1980s. Despite being Prime Minister and head of the Conservative party, Margaret Thatcher as a woman was not allowed full membership at the Conservative Gentlemen’s club ‘The Carlton'. Old Etonians, like David Cameron, have belonged to such Gentlemen’s clubs. It is in these clubs that behind the scene influence is still used to influence politics and business."

Now Karen's photographic works will soon be available in a book – Gentlemen will be published this September by STANLEY/BARKER in collaboration with Eric Franck Fine Art. Pre-order your copy now.

Via direct submission | All images courtesy of Karen Knorr

A man in a suit sits in a formal 1980s gentleman's club interior, resting his head on his hand beside a table with papers and a water glass, beneath a portrait on the wall
Opulent 1980s gentlemen's club interior with coffered ceiling, crystal chandelier, black leather furniture and formal portrait paintings on white walls
Elderly man in dark suit stands in a 1980s bedroom with period furnishings, portraits on striped wallpaper, and traditional furniture, from Karen Knorr's Gentlemen series
A formal historical portrait hangs above a dark sofa with leather armchairs in an ornate 1980s gentlemen's club interior, showing several men in period dress gathered around a seated figure at a desk
A man in a dark suit stands at a tall arched window with heavy curtains in an elegant room with classical columns and ornate ceiling details, looking out onto a brick building
A black and white photograph of an elegant library interior with floor-to-ceiling bookshelves, a crystal chandelier, fireplace and scattered books on tables, from Karen Knorr's Gentlemen series documenting 1980s London gentlemen's clubs
Black and white photograph of a formal dining room in a 1980s London gentlemen's club, with portraits on dark walls, a crystal chandelier, fireplace and round table set with white cloth
Man in suit reclines on leather sofa in wood-panelled library beneath eight portrait paintings in ornate frames, with bookshelves visible either side
Ornate 1980s gentlemen's club interior with fireplace, crystal chandelier, framed paintings, desk with papers and lamps, illustrating exclusive spaces of upper-class privilege
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