'Forgotten' work of 1920s photographer on display

An exhibition showcasing the work of a 1920s photographer is due to start in his home town.

Clement Ernest Kille from Minehead worked as a photographer throughout the 1920s and '30s, mainly taking pictures of his daughter and the Somerset landscape.

His granddaughter Atha Murphy has now found the photographs while clearing boxes for a house move and they are displayed at Townsend House until 9 August.

"I am proud. People come into the exhibition and recognise people they knew in the photos. It's nice to remind people of him," Ms Murphy said.

More than 100 years ago Mr Kille ran the Gift and Art shop on Friday Street in Minehead.

"He was also a passionate photographer whose work had been forgotten for many decades," his granddaughter said.

Ms Murphy never got to meet her grandfather, who died before her parents got married.

However, she said the pictures she found help to "build a picture of him".

"He clearly adored my mum, he took many lovely pictures of her," Ms Murphy said.

Throughout the late 1920s and '30s, Mr Kille's photos of West Somerset scenes regularly appeared across a range of national newspapers including The Daily Telegraph, The Manchester Guardian, the News Chronicle, The Daily Express as well as regional dailies.

His family has now found 400 fragile glass plates, each carefully preserved in brown paper sleeves.

The photographs depict the local area – the long since demolished Minehead Lido, the last launch of the wooden sailing lifeboat, old farming methods, ships and their sailors.

"Everybody knew my family in Minehead, not because we were posh but because we had a shop," Ms Murphy said.

She added: "He seemed to have been quiet and sort of creative and a very loving father by all accounts.

"So it would have been nice to have known him as my grandfather."

The free exhibition at Townsend House is on until 9 August.

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