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.
Mad dogs and English men
An abandoned Ebro B-35 Diesel lorry on the roadside near Capileira in the Sierra Nevada mountains, Spain. Mid 1980s.
Why whitewash tree trunks?
Portugal. The care and attention paid to the tree places nature as the dominant content of this place. A people sympathetic to the importance of trees.
I had thought the whitewash was just aesthetic but apparently there are other good reasons for doing this.
Portuguese fruit shop 1980s
Fruit shop, Portugal.
A harsh light.
APU: (Aliança Povo Unido) from wikipedia: The United People Alliance was an electoral and political coalition between the Portuguese Communist Party and the Portuguese Democratic Movement. After 1983, the Ecologist Party “The Greens” also joined.
On the nature of the ephemeral
Doorway, Butlers Wharf, Docklands London. Taken some time in the 1980s.
No doubt large parts of this building were retained and converted but I doubt the grime built up over the years or this wooden doorway is there anymore.
At photo and film school I played around with image as illusion, Im now thinking that a photo can retain a reality after the subject is no longer there, the hard material world changes over time but stages can be preserved in images. Perhaps because at base there are only mental images?
Let’s together pause on this street and appreciate the history of the scene in front of us.
Ecstasy in the garden
Water drops from the fountains in the garden of the Generalife, adjacent to the Alhambra Palace.
Taken during a visit to Granada, Spain in the 1980s. I went on a tour with Adam and he introduced me to Southern Spain, visiting cities, towns and villages well away from the crowded beaches.
This was my first trip to a hot country and I remember being extremely hot even when walking in the shadows, entering the sunlight brought an overwhelming blast of heat. Coming as I do from a small industrial town in the North West of England it was certainly something I had never experienced before.
Walking through the beautiful water cooled gardens felt very special. These small moments of bliss are fleeting, saved up and revisited years later, a glimpse into what could be.
Getting ready for the rain
A walk across the fields, yes, an actual field trip with my fellow 1st year class of photography students, Trent Polytechnic, Nottingham. Approx 1980
An Autumn morning
Victoria Park. Taken on the way to Cowley Boys School in the mid to late 1970s. Lubitel 2 camera, 6×6 FP4 negative film.
I used to live in a street near this park but the family moved to Haydock some miles away. A bus journey to St.Helens and then a walk from the Centre to the school. I tried to vary the route of the walk every day but often took a detour to walk through the park again. I have a deep love for the park.
Student Accommodation Nottingham 1981/2
Second year house share in Lees Hill Road, Sneinton, Nottingham.
Here across 3 frames of 6×6 colour negatives is one of my co-housemates as she takes her turn to clean the kitchen.
Pretty basic facilities and very cold in the winter but the landlord was a nice guy and the rent was reasonable (from memory £8 per week).
The third housemate was a little more particular about cleanliness than I was and I once found a coin resting in the grill cover housing – a test to see I had dissembled the cooker to clean it when it was my turn…
College project: Nightlife, isolation 1
The central part of a series of nightlife images from my final year exhibition at Trent Polytechnic in 1983.
Nottingham.
Having a laugh
Cowley Boys School, 1978-9. Sitting with some friends on the field on sportsday. In an ideal world we would be watching the events and joining in but this was not that.
Dreamscape 5
Two negatives combined to create one image. Nigh time Nottingham and a studio shot, both taken on Kodak Vericolor II Professional Type S medium format colour negative film.