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

Optimist/Pessimist

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.

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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

This image is available for licensed use, please contact Stephen Johnson for details.

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)
When I mention the use of the image as a cd cover in my workshops I say, “Im a fan and it would be good if the band were better known, though that might be just wishful thinking” – some people get it 😉

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

New World radio from the Patrick Cook collection.

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.

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Rock Clock

Conceptual composit image with the theme of time/ Aeons.

I bought an interesting trilobite fossil and thought it would be interesting to combine it with a Grand Father Clockface I bought at the open air market in Greenwich.

This was a real life old clock face that was on sale in the 1990s through this particular market stall, the seller had just integrated a simple quartz mechanism and some suitable hands. They became very popular and later ones were just printed versions of old clock faces.

The elements were shot on a Horseman LZ studio camera with a Nikon 150mm Lens onto Fuji 5×4 transparency film. Scanned on a Crosfield drum scanner and then composited using Barco Creator software running on a Silicon Graphics Indigo computer.

(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)

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.

London underground

3 separate frames of 35mm high speed transparency film merged together using Barco Creator software on a Silicon Graphics computer, early to mid 1990s

This stock image did not sell well, perhaps a little too “down” and realistic. No model releases so pixelating helped create the feeling of anonymity.

Merging the inside of the tube train and the platform mirrored the blurred conscious state that you learn to adopt on the daily drudge.

Always remember hearing someone from the North of England, perhaps his first time on the tube, he was exasperated with the whole situation and shouted out “What the fuck is wrong with you all”, a little crude and direct, but he did have a point.

Original syndication, Tony Stone Images / Getty Images
Current syndication: Stephen Johnson

(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)

End of school portraits

Taken after the class photos on Friday 21st April 1978. One day after receiving the O level exam timetable.
Changes were coming, one last chance to record the time.

Unofficial 5th form class photo 5W Friday 21st April 1978 12:10am

Unofficial class photo made the day after we were given our O level exam timetable. One last bit of fun before we had to get serious. This is not my class, you can see that one which was taken first here: Form 5L You will notice that a few lads from form 5L have infiltrated the form 5W photo, this is the kind of thing that happens when you let a school boy take class pictures.

 

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.

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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

Haydock Park, horse race in progress. Processed September 1981. Shot on Kodachrome 25.

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.

 

How cats got fleas

Municipal Buildings, Truro, Cornwall, 1981.

Loved my visit to Truro in the early 1980s. I was studying photography at Nottingham Trent Polytechnic and a group of us were staying at the cottage of a tutor in the County.

Came across this scene and had to take a frame. Particularly impressed that the Flea market was only 1p for entry and that went to charity. Whimsy is such a forgotten art, we need more cat shows and flea markets advertised together!

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