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n the spring of 1947 Dave Heath opened

the cover of Life magazine and came

across Ralph Crane’s photo-essay Bad

Boy’s Story. The piece described the life

of Butch, a boy living in an orphanage

in Seattle who was struggling to build

relationships with those around him.

The essay struck a chord with 16-year-

old Heath, whose parents had abandoned

him at the age of four. He was raised in a

series of foster homes before moving to

an orphanage in Philadelphia. Aside from

identifying with the protagonist, Heath found

he was moved by the pictures themselves:

here was proof positive that photography

could be used as a means of self-expression.

Heath bought the magazine on a Friday

and when he returned to school after the

weekend he headed straight to the library

to see what photography books he could

borrow. His visit was rewarded with a copy

of Photography is a Language by John R.

Whiting, a former editor at Life. In the book

Whiting described how the magazine shaped

its photo-essays, as well as providing details

about how some of the top photographers

of the time worked. Heath was hooked.

Shortly afterwards he built a camera out of

cardboard and fitted it with a lens from

a microscope – the pictures were terrible,

but the sense of discovery proved addictive.

Having upgraded to a Brownie, the

teenager set about learning the craft of

photography. He took courses in commercial

art, but mainly developed his skills via trial

and error. A series of photography-related

jobs followed, including a spell assisting an

architectural photographer. His employment

was terminated when his fingers, having

turned numb, failed to keep hold of an

expensive lens on a bitterly cold day.

Heath also worked as a darkroom assistant

for a child photographer, then changed tack

and became a busboy (waiter’s assistant) and

a room service attendant. Having saved up

his pay he bought himself a Rolleiflex.

The next chapter of his life began in 1952

when he was called up to fight in the Korean

Abandoned at age four, American photographer Dave Heath spent much of his

photographic career exploring themes of loss and alienation. The Photographers’ Gallery

in London presents the first major UK exhibition of his work. Tracy Calder reports.

FEATURE MOMENTS OF SOLITUDE

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© Dave Heath/Collection Torosian, courtesy Howard Greenberg Gallery, New York, and Stephen Bulger Gallery, Toronto

Above Washington Square, New York, 1960. | Opposite Washington Square, New York City, 1960.