The one born in St.Helens in 1961.
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.
Taken on a family holiday, North Wales. Approx 1978. Ilford FP4 120 film, Lubitel II camera.
We may not know, we cannot tell
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.
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.
Read moreUnofficial 5th form class photo 5L Friday 21st April 1978 12.00am
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.
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 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.
An abandoned Ebro B-35 Diesel lorry on the roadside near Capileira in the Sierra Nevada mountains, Spain. Mid 1980s.
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.
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.
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.
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.
A walk across the fields, yes, an actual field trip with my fellow 1st year class of photography students, Trent Polytechnic, Nottingham. Approx 1980
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.
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…