History and inspiration

It’s true. I bought a time machine. And I got it on e-bay. But let me begin at the beginning. It all started in my favourite East End flea market. I was browsing the stalls when I spotted some old stereoview photographs. Normally I’d pass them by, but these particular views reminded me strongly of the work of E J Bellocq, one of my favourite photographers. Clearly taken in the early 1900s, they feature slightly risqué images of women dressing or having an impromptu party at their college dorm. Clothed in night dresses or under garments, they wear the fancy stockings so favoured by Bellocq’s...


Continue Reading »

I don’t collect Victorian cabinet cards. Indeed, I own only one. And I didn’t buy it—as I do most photos in my collection—for the image on the front. I bought it because of the Studio stamp on the back. I found it in a box at a vintage fair. When I turned it over I spotted the address of W Wright’s studio: 188, 189, 190 Bethnal Green Road and the date, 1888. Number ‘188-190’ Bethnal Green Road is close to where I live, indeed I walk past its location every day. I say ‘its location’ because 188, 189 and 190 Bethnal Green Road no longer exist. Many of the Victorian buildings...


Continue Reading »

I’ve been collecting Victorian and Edwardian photographs for quite a few years now, but I’ve always shunned the popular colourised images from this era as just a little bit tacky. I had a handful in my collection as curiosities only. Recently, though, I’ve been trying to perfect the art of hand-spotting photographic prints using correcting inks and while playing with the green-shaded olive-tones put some washes on a few of my own reject photos. Then, by chance, a few weeks back I came across a small collection of hand-coloured Edwardian studio images in an East London flea market; my interest...


Continue Reading »

It's said that you choose friends that are most like you. Most photographers think of their cameras as their friend. My Mamiya RZ67 is big, ugly and way too heavy, so I can see why I chose it as my day-to-day camera. Since switching from 35mm I use it for pretty much everything, from studio to street. But when I use large format, I switch to a Victorian half-plate Thorton Pickard Korona. My Mamiya PROii was made around 1995, the Thorton Pickard dates to 1895. But what is striking is that looking at the two side-by-side, they are almost identical technologically. One hundred years of advancement...


Continue Reading »

If you're interested in finding out more about Storyville, the red light district where E J Bellocq took his series of images (see previous post), then read the article I wrote for the latest issue of Whore magazine. It's a really interesting new print magazine with a focus on high quality photography and writing. Issue 3 has only just been released. Visit the magazine's Website for more info.    


Continue Reading »

New Orleans photographer Ernest J Bellocq has been a major influence on my work. Bellocq was a commercial photographer active in the early part of the 20th Century. The photos featured here are a small selection of images from 89 glass plate negatives found in his apartment after his death in 1949. They are believed to have been taken around 1912 and feature prostitutes from the legalised red light district known as Storyville that operated in New Orleans between 1897 and 1917. The negatives turned up in Sal Ruiz's antique shop around 1958 and were bought by Larry Borenstein (owner of the art gallery...


Continue Reading »