Halfway to Paradise: Photography by Harry Hammond

Halfway to Paradise explores the exceptional work of Harry Hammond, the music photographer who documented the emergence of Rock ‘n’ Roll music in post-war Britain. From Roy Orbison and Ella Fitzgerald to Cliff Richard and Shirley Bassey, the display features more than 60 portraits, behind the scenes and performance shots of leading musicians in the 1950s and 1960s.

The display is drawn from the V&A’s collection and provides an insight into the change in musical tastes over the two decades following the war. Hammond’s photographs chronicle the jazz and big band musicians of the early 1950s such as Frank Sinatra and Billie Holiday, American Rock ‘n’ Roll stars visiting Britain including Little Richard, Eddie Cochran and Gene Vincent, through to the early breakthroughs of British rock such as the Animals and the Beatles in the 1960s.