Amazing Photos of British Gangsters From the 1990s Set for Rare Exhibit

Bernie’s Boys. | Photo by Jocelyn Bain Hogg

The British underworld was once famous for eccentricity, heists, and horrific violence. The Kray twins from the East End of London are arguably the most famous gangsters to ever emerge from the city; it’s a scene that is notoriously difficult to photograph.

However, one photographer, Jocelyn Bain Hogg, was commissioned in 1997 by Elle magazine to document a journalist meeting two known local villains. Bain Hogg, who began his career as a unit photographer on film sets, knew nothing about the life of crime and didn’t want to know.

And yet, as he talked to one of the villains about parenthood, he realized how much they both had in common: Bain Hogg’s own father, Tom Bain Hogg, was an actor, and the villain’s son was also an actor. The conversation continued over whisky in a Soho club, where the two bonded.

Mickey at home with Maria and Chanelle.

Charlie’s wake at the Horn of Plenty, Mile End.

The villain was keen to see the photographs made for the article, and Bain Hogg, realizing he had begun to gain access to a secretive, private, and intimidating world, asked if he could continue photographing them. He then pitched the idea of a full story to a Japanese journalist he had been working with: an exclusive documentary feature on the British criminal underworld for Japanese GQ. Although the commission itself was completed in a month, Bain Hogg continued photographing this hidden world for a further three years, culminating in a series he called The Firm.

“The reason the pictures resonate is because I never ever lied to them. I cannot pretend to be from their world; I do not have a Cockney accent and actually have no interest at all in British crime histories,” says Bain Hogg.

“From the start, I made it clear I didn’t want to photograph their own presentation — no posed pictures and no complicity. From day one, I showed them the pictures, and continue to do so. This way there can be no arguments and no compromise. I soon realised that they actually enjoy being presented in this hard, real way…”

Charlie Kray’s funeral in 2000.

Joey Pyle, a leading figure from London’s underworld.

The Firm was released as a book and the work is now being shown at Leica Gallery London, with the prints taken directly from Bain Hogg’s yellow-and-black Kodak archive boxes, where they remained undisturbed for decades after the project was completed. These original prints, produced by Bain Hogg himself — an accomplished darkroom printer — represent the physical realization of the work as it first existed beyond the negatives.

Many of the prints were originally used by leading international publications and retain Jocelyn Bain Hogg’s stamps, signature, and handwritten notations on the verso—details that have become increasingly rare in the digital age and add to their historical and archival significance.

The exhibition will run from July 11 until September 3 at Leica Gallery London, 64-66 Duke Street, London, W1K 6JD.

Image credits: Photographs by Jocelyn Bain Hogg