The one born in St.Helens in 1961.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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
Unused image from the flat 8 project
An abandoned room at Portmeirion Village 1982. “The Prisoner” starring Patrick McGoohan was filmed there and it had a profound effect on me as a very young boy when it was transmitted in 1968. It was exciting of course and the high tech of the time was a draw but it was the concepts and meaning behind the surface that attracted me. No 6 -McGoohans character in the series was not the traditional hero type figure, the series played with the idea of the individual and society. “Who is number 1?” – “You are number 6!” it was flagged at the start of evey episode!
Visiting Portmerion on perhaps my last family holiday in 1982 I was really pleased when I climbed a staircase (I wasnt meant to climb) and found this scene through the glass of the door. 24/7 monitoring of the prisoner was central to the series and this speaker on the cabinet and pens strewn on the floor looked like a low tech version of that.
In retrospect I can see how No 6 could be described as a hero figure by Ayn Rand, certainly problematic. Thankfully in 1973 I was similarly thunderstruck by a very different man: Jacob Bronowski in his 13 part documentary “The Ascent of Man” which contains some of the most emotionaly powerful and humanistic moments on TV.
Not my picture. A print from 1959 of my mother and fathers wedding.
As a child, perhaps 5 years old I found the picture and used a blue biro pen to scribble on it. I clearly remember doing it. I liked doing it.
When my mother and father found out there was hell to pay.
Some 58 years later I use a pen again (a wacom pen on a wacom tablet) to undo the damage.