Sean Plunkett

Sean Plunkett (1948–2023) was a British documentary photographer born in Hull in 1948. He began taking photographs while studying at Ealing Art College in the early 1970s, making work in London and returning to Hull, where he photographed the city and its people.

His work from the period centres on everyday public life. In Hull, Plunkett photographed children, families, shoppers and Hull Fair. In London, he worked inside Underground carriages and stations, photographing passengers travelling, waiting and sitting alongside one another.

After college, Plunkett worked in mines in Australia and later as a builder, settling in Bristol. He kept his negatives and began returning to the photographs later in life, scanning and organising work that had received little public attention when it was made.

His is represented by British Culture Archive, which works with his son, Leo Plunkett, on selected work from the Hull and London Underground archives.