A miserable day
Ormskirk Street, St.Helens, Merseyside 1978. Building site for the Nat West Bank.
Wearing a long coat, a head scarf and with a plastic bag in hand a lady makes her way across the road.
In photography it’s easy to glamorise, to photograph the extra ordinary. It’s harder to document the ordinary.
In the gloom and the cold I found a kind of beauty.
4th and 5th form official schools photographer
I never got into rugby myself but was fortunate to miss games periods to do photography. A side effect was to become the sports teams photographer for the school. All the moneys from the sale of prints went back into buying film, chemicals and paper.
Extra maths class 1978/9
So greatful to the teachers who had the patience to help me understand mathematics. I won a school prize in the 5th form, £5 towards a book, I chose the focal encyclapedia of photography. A little certificate was pasted into the front of the book, the award was for “Progress”. I went from being very poor to mediocrity – a huge improvement! If I had not gone to Cowley school I would have totally failed academically.
Santorini
Stock Photo taken on an island hopping tour of Greek islands and placed with The Tony Stone Photolibrary in the 1980s.
Mamiya RB 6×7 90mm lens Kodak EPN 6012 transparency film.
Tree
The garden at 49 Tyrwhitt Road, Brockley, London.
Taken on a pre war Voigtländer Brillant camera. The lens captures light as it wraps around the soft edges of nature within the hard edges of South East London.
Philip
Fellow ex Cowley pupil Philip 1982
We had all left Cowley School and gone on to various colleges but gathered in the lake district during the summer break to catch up. The gang had gone from the woods into a clearing, but Philip held back, and I saw the opportunity for a portrait.
Being in college was like an extension of school but in the near future we were going out into the world and making a life for ourselves.
Caught between the known and the unknown, looking towards the light.
Fellow Photographer
Atherton Street, St.Helens. 1979.
I took this during an exchange visit in 1979. Musicians and choir from the Fanny Leicht Gymnasium in Stuttgart were visting Cowley school and they were all staying with local families.
I was walking with a large group of the visiting pupils into the town centre; they were due to meet the Mayor. The Germans were non plussed by the tiny houses and how old they were, a bit of a culture shock for them it seemed.
I had some nice chats with this chap about photography. I may of had a Pentax K1000 camera by then (or might still have had my Zenith E). His camera was more impressive! It would be lovely to get back in touch if he ever sees this. stephen@copyrightimage.co.uk
Flat visitor 1980
Unused image from the flat 8 project