Unknown part of Nottingham. Night time shot done on a exploitative walk. Finding different vistas.
Taken approx 1982. 6×6 Colour negative, Yashica 124G camera 80mm lens.
CB Radio in the 1970s
Whilst still at school I worked on Saturday mornings at Fishwicks in Haydock. This was a camera store and I served customers at the counter. This chap also had a part time job there and we got on well as we were both into the analogue technology of the time.
After work I went round to see his Citizens Band radio setup and I took a few frames. CB was the social network of the day, a chance to chat to friends in the area or talk to passing traffic, usually lorries (not usually in Convoy). In the days when British Telecom had a monopoly on telephones it must have been very liberating to talk as long as you wanted without per minute charges.
Like Facebook there was an etiquette to using the equipment, moving chat to different channels and not interrupting people etc. I never got into CB myself but liked the idea.
Rig confirmed to be a Colt 320 FM “Black Shadow SSB”, many thanks to the Facebook community for the details.
35mm Ilford HP5 film, 400ASA.
Quantum superposition
A conceptual stock image produced for syndication through Getty images in the Mid 1990s.
Photographing a half full glass of wine conventionally would have made it look like I had just had a drink so came up with this idea to have a genuinely full and empty glass by dividing it vertically.
Californian wind
Old style wind towers. Taken on a road trip in an open topped car, Los Angeles to San Francisco, July 1991.
I was with two old school friends, Keith Hunt and Robert Williams. They could both drive so I was the backseat passenger who could enjoy the views. occasionally I would ask them to pull over so I could get out my Mamiya RB67 Medium format camera and photograph the sights.
These wind towers were beside the main highway in California, there seemed to be hundreds of them and we enjoyed driving the service roads to have a look. America really is a country of big contrasts, the congested freeways and the open wind farms were a lasting memory.
Lone Tree
The Lake District, UK. Taken in 1995 and submitted to Getty Images where it began to sell in 1996.
Originally shot on 120 Fuji Velvia film this image was not manipulated other than changing contrast and reducing saturation (Velvia like Kodachrome before it tends to turn all images into a sunny day).
I have seen the image used in a few places, a front window display for Timberland stores and for the CD cover of “The best songs” by the 80s group China Crisis (https://bit.ly/2xTjhh8)
This is the original grade for the image from the period, done using Barco Creator software on a Silicon Graphics Indy machine.
I would probably do a softer grade if I were to work the image these days though that would of course take some of the drama out of it.
Mamiya 7 medium format range finder camera, 80mm lens, Fuji Velvia 120 film.
(Please note that I do not provide sharing links for commercial images on this site, these are for viewing on this website only If you wish to purchase a license to use the image then just get in touch)
New World in the morning
In the late 1980s I looked after this Bakelite radio for Patrick Cook. It is sat on the mantlepiece in a room I rented in Brockley, London. I did not want to give this back at it was an object of wonder, form and function but also beauty.
Photographed onto a sheet of 10″x 8″ black and white film on a Gandolfi studio camera using the front portion of a convertible 360mm lens.
The Wasteland
No, not a shot of a failed Mars Lander.
Abandoned carcass of a black and white valve TV set, possible early 1960s vintage. Photo approx 1976/7. Taken in St.Helens on some wasteland, possibly after some street demolition. This shot reminded me that I used to enjoy taking the backs off old TVs to poke around and see how they worked, surprised I’m still alive thinking about it now.
Unknown department
Three people assist each other in the search for knowledge.
Part of my Second Year Documentary project covering the courses at Newark College. 1981-2.
Ilford FP4 120 film. Yashicamat 124G.
Channeling Jim Morrison
Burns Street, Nottingham, 1981-82
Adam Sulik, fellow 2nd year Photography student at Trent Polytechnic strikes a pose. Im pretty sure Adam is at least 6′ tall so the guy I have only just noticed in the background must be over 7′
Walking to the old Victorian house where he had just rented a room. Adam was a big fan of The Doors and had a pretty good stereo system.
There is a green hill far, far away
Taken on a family holiday, North Wales. Approx 1978. Ilford FP4 120 film, Lubitel II camera.
We may not know, we cannot tell
Tony Stone Photo library, the early years.
Self portrait in my colour darkroom (lights on). Tony Stone Worldwide, St.Johns Wood. I’m looking at a processed 10”x8” sheet of transparency film on a light box that contains some exposure and colour tests. Taken in 1985.
Unofficial 5th form class photo 5L Friday 21st April 1978 12.00am
For some reason Cowley Boys school did not arrange class photos during the time I was there. This however was the period of punk and we did not need no official photographer to get the job done.
Form 5L, In one of the frames I’m holding my arm out to steady myself after running from setting the self timer on the Zenith E camera mounted on a tripod.
Being. On a bus.
An early (and rare for me) colour image taken as a school boy in the 1970s, likely on the way to school. I term shots like this as “quiet” a silent visual meditation. My commercial images shouted very loudly for a short time but they dated quickly, the quiet images last forever.
Haydock races
Im not a gambler but I knew it was worthwhile taking a few frames of the scene behind me on the stands, far more interesting than the horse race.
Photographing a horse race does not need to show horses, a valuable lesson.
Rainy morning trip into work
Three London bus inspectors respecting each others space on the top deck, the rain rolling down the windows completes this little tableau. Taken in the mid 1980s.
I would have taken the picture because even one inspector sitting down would have been an unusual sight, they normally were seen standing up and demanding to see your ticket, but three sat down? I had to use my camera – there was no other choice.
Ilford XP chromogenic film (C41 process Black and White)
The Eiffel Tower
The shear audacity and the vision.
I discovered the continent of Europe in my 20s and spent some of my happiest times there. Europe will always be part of me.