The one born in St.Helens in 1961.
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…
The central part of a series of nightlife images from my final year exhibition at Trent Polytechnic in 1983.
Nottingham.
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.
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.
The only image in the dreamscape project to not be shot at night but seeming to emerge from it’s own dark centre.
Venue: The Mill, a Nottingham nightclub near the centre of town. As well as the latest 80s music they had light displays and smoke machines. This image was used in an article in the September 1983 edition of the British Journal of Photography about the final diploma show at Trent Polytechnic.
Adam Sulik (left) comes to visit after a trip to the Reject Shop in town. He has bought a rolling ball maze game and lets everyone have a go. After days of frustration Adam got quite good at it…
Luckily I dont think it was a windy day. Health and safety standards for demolition have certainly changed since. Taken on a walk to nowhere in particular. I enjoyed walking with my camera and capturing what I saw along the way.
Egg cups and props from the Patrick Cook collection
