Over the years, Peter Lavery's photographic commissions – both his editorial work and advertising campaigns – have taken him to nearly every corner of the globe.

Since 1972, he has published numerous portraits and photo-essays in the colour supplements of newspapers like The Times, Telegraph, Observer, and Independent and magazines such as Vogue, Tatler, Expressions, and Fortune.

The recipient of many awards, Lavery has also produced in book form two major series of photographic studies. The first of these, Circus Work, was the result of a twenty-six year odyssey, in which he tracked circus performers the length and breadth of Great Britain and Ireland. The project, begun while he was still a student, has brought him recognition as a photographer of international stature, and the book itself is considered one of the most important examples of human and social documentation produced in Britain in recent times.

Published in 1997, Circus Work confirmed Lavery to be a photographer of the first rank in his technical skill and in his human and pictorial perception. Lavery's second book, Of Humankind, published in September, 2000, is a compelling gallery of portraits that the photographer made for himself of people he met on his travels. Among his sitters were Japanese geisha and Xingu tribesmen, Australian cowboys and native Greenlanders, New Guinea warriors and Masai herdsmen. Eschewing sociological or anthropological concerns, the project – begun in 1987 – is an ongoing study of human portraiture.

Peter Lavery, the son of a miner, was born in Wakefield, Yorkshire, in 1948. Having studied at Wakefield, Liverpool, and Leeds colleges of art, he completed his MA in photography at the Royal College of Art, London, in 1972. Since 1992, Lavery has divided his time between his former studio in Battersea, in London, and his farm near Malmesbury, in Wiltshire, which he has converted into a new studio and darkroom. He is married and has two sons.

AWARDS
The Telegraph Magazine – Photographer of the year 1972
D.& A.D. Awards 1985 – Overall Silver award. The most outstanding editorial photography (client Sunday Times Mag. A.D. John Tennant)
D & A.D. Awards 1985 – Silver award for part campaign (client Christies. A.D. Jonathan Iles. Agency Saatchi, London)
Campaign press 1985 – Gold award
Campaign press 1987 – Gold award (client Guide Dogs for the Blind. A.D. Graham Fink. Agency Saatchi & Saatchi, London)
Campaign press 1987 – Gold award (client Hamlet. A.D. Graham Fink. Agency Saatchi & Saatchi, London)
D & A.D. Awards 1987 – Silver award best photographic newspaper ad (client Hamlet. A.D. Graham Fink. Agency Saatchi & Saatchi, London)
D & A.D. Awards 1987 – Silver award best photographic advertising (client Guide Dogs for the Blind. A.D. Mike Shafron. Agency Collet Dickens & Pierce, London)
Art Directors Club First International Exhibition 1987 – Gold award (client Guide Dogs for the Blind. A.D. Mike Shafron. Agency Collet Dickens & Pierce, London)
D & A.D. Awards 1990 – Silver award best photographic poster (client Reebok. A.D. T. Ashton. & D.Christensen. Agency Lowe Howard Spink, London)
D & A.D. Awards 1990 – Overall Silver award. The most outstanding editorial photography (client Observer Magazine. A.D. June Stanyer)
A.F.A.E.P Photographic awards 1992 – Silver award for best black & white portfolio (personal portraits)
D & A.D. Awards 1992 – Silver nomination for best poster - Spaceship - (client Castlemaine XXXX. A.D. Peter Gibb, Zelda Malan. Agency Saatchi, London)
D & A.D. Awards 1992 – Silver nomination for best poster - Tree - (client Castlemaine XXXX. A.D. Peter Gibb, Zelda Malan. Agency Saatchi, London)
A.F.A.E.P. Photographic Awards 1993 – Silver award for the best single commissioned colour image. (client Marlboro. A.D. Gordon Smith. Agency Bainsfair Sharkey Trott, London)
The Art Directors Club Milan 1994 – Best photography in advertising campaign. (client Levi Strauss Italia. A.D. Stephano Columbo. Agency McCann Erickson, Milan)
A.F.A.E.P. Photographic awards 1995 – Silver award for the best commissioned black & white series. (client Marlboro. A.D. Gordon Smith. Agency Bainsfair Sharkey Trott, London)
The Art Directors Club Schweiz 1996 – Gold award. (client Relax. A.D. Danielle Lnz. Agency Wirz, Zurich)
Campaign Travel poster award 1999 – (client English Riviera. A.D. Andrew Lawson. Agency Travis Sully Harari, London)
Campaign Transport poster 1999 – Gold award (client English Riviera. A.D. Andrew Lawson. Agency Travis Sully Harari, London)
Communication Arts photography awards 2000 – USA Award of Excellence. Advertising series (client Hamburg Water Authority. A.D. Lars Kruse)
Communication Arts photography awards 2000 – USA Institutional (client Audi. A.D. Lars Kruse)

PICTURE STORIES
Bawlch Valentino – 1979 The Daily Telegraph Magazine
The Peoples Forest – 1981 The Sunday Times Magazine Patrick Nicholson
Garden series – March/April 1981 The Sunday Times Magazine
Pennny Lane is in Their Lives – Feb 1983 Sunday Times Magazine
Riley – Mid 1983 Sunday Times Magazine. Film Portraits.
Working people – March 1984 Sunday Times Magazine
Dreamchild – Aug 1984 The Sunday Times Magazine portrait of the film
Successful career People – Aug 1984 The Sunday Times Magazine
Cricket Masterclass – Aug 1984 The Observer Magazine
Cricket – March 1985 Frankfurter Allgemeine Magazin by Michael Freitag
Vienna, Profile of a City – Sept. 1985 Observer Magazine
Britains New Middle Class – Oct 1985 The Sunday Times Magazine
The Noble Blood of Ireland – Nov 1985 Observer magazine
Alice through the plate camera – Jan 1986 The Sunday times magazine
Hot Dogs – Jan 1987 Observer magazine
Children of the forest; My tribe My People by Aritana chief of the Yawalapiti – June 89 Obsever magazine
Century – Nov 1999 by Bruce Bernard
A Day in the Life of London – September 1984 by Jonathan Cape.Edited by Syd Shelton and Red Saunders. London.
Ireland: A Week in the Life of a Nation – August 1986 by Century Hutchinson. Edited by Syd Shelton and Red Suanders.
24 Hours in Los Angeles – March 1984. Alfred Van Der Mark editions. Edited by Syd Shelton and Red Saunders.
A Day in the Life of the Ruhr valley

ARTICLES
The Telegraph Magazine – 1971 Photographic scholarship by Byron Rogers
British Journal o f Photography – June 1987 Intuitive Photography by Alison Theaker
British Journal of Photography – Feb 1993 The chosen few
British Journal of Photography – June 1993 Knowing the Ropes
British Journal of Photography – Aug 1996 Advertising special report by Ian Cowmeadow
British Journal of Photography – April 1997 O What a Circus by Sean Louth
Amateur Photographer – 1997 Ring of Confidence
Portfolio – June 1997 Circus Work
The Photographic Journal – June 1997 Circus Work
Hot Shoe International – June 1997 by John Tarrant
Creative Review Magazine – 1997 Sawdust Memories
Image Magazine – May 1997 Circus Work by Emma Fox
Zoom – 1997 Peter Lavery: Circus Work
The Independant Magazine – April 1997 Show People by Bruce Bernard
The Guardian Newspaper – April 1997 Tales From the Big Top by John Virdal
Folka de San Paola (Brazil) – Exposição Retrata Circos Londrinos
Le Journal des Encheres (France) – April 1997 Le Cirque de Vu par
Photographia Reflex (Spain) – April 1997 Il Bel Circo di Peter Lavery
Journal One (Malaya) – July 1997 Circus Work
Image Magazine – 1997 Route 66: Peter Lavery's View of America by Laurie Evans
Independent Magazine – September 2000 Of Humankind by Robin Muir
British Journal of Photography – November 2000 Interview by Sarah Brown

EDITORIAL CLIENTS
The Sunday Times; The Observer; The Telegraph; Vogue; Tatler; Frankfurter allgemeine; World of interiors; Fortune; Country life; Expressions magazine; Womens Journal; G. Q. Magazine.

ADVERTISING CLIENTS
Bacardi, Flare petrol; Marlboro; Alexon; Schwepes; Isle of Man Tourist board; St. Ivel; Philip Morris; Levis; Volvo; BMW; Opel; V.W.; Fiat; American Cotton; Averna; Reebock; V8; Creda; R.S.P.C.A; Olympus; Rank Xerox; Maison Phenix, Tandy, I.C.I, White and McKay, Black and White, The Australian Tourist Board; Scottish Tel; Courage Directors; Risso Gallo; Deutsche Bank, Martini, Cinzano, A.A, Badoit, R.A.C, Hush Puppy, John Lewis; Kodak; Scholl; Wrangler; Fed Ex; D.H.L.; Castlemaine XXXX; Swiss Telecom; France Telecom; Royal Navy; Sealink; Lacoste; Compuserve; Smirnoff; Relax; Intersport; Bass; Mazda; Lloyds bank; Swiss Air; Nissan; Electricity board; The English Tourist Board; British Coal; Mercedes; Davidoff Cigars; Swatch; Chrysler Voyager; Saturn; Solville and Titus; Piaggio; Alfa Romeo; Heineken

EXHIBITIONS
Wakefield art gallery – 1976
Battersea Town hall – 1976
Photographers gallery London – 1983
Joint show Royal College of Art retrospective – 1988
Hamiltons Gallery: advertising work – 1989
Royal Photographic Society, Bath: Circus Work – 1997
Paul Kopeiken, Los Angeles: Circus Work – 1998 – 1999
Tom Blau gallery, London: Of Humankind – Sept. 2000
Royal Photographic Society. Bath. Of Humankind - Dec 2000