I was born in London in 1952 but we came to Hull in 1957 mainly because even then the house price was prohibitive for my parents with me and my twin brothers born in 1955….and Dad was a lorry driver.
I had a pretty normal childhood, being very average in most things, but quite clever at school until l discovered the opposite sex. I left school with 2 GCE’s in Technical Drawing and Art. My first job was with Consolidated Fruit and Veg on Humber Street with a first boss called of all things Alf Peach.. It was there ”when man landed on the moon in 1969” and after staying up all night with my Mum watching it I thought early mornings were not for me. Anyway, I went to the local careers office looking for a change of job and they asked me what I was good at, at school to which I replied the only thing I was good at was drawing. They had on their books a job for a junior with a photographer called Jim Marshal and from day one I was hooked and to this day 55 years later I still love it.
As well as being a photographer Jim played the drums at The Westfield Country Club in Cottingham which at the time was “The best venue in Hull”. All the big jazz stars played there and came to the studios Count Bassie, The Peddlers, Marion Montgomery, Duke Ellington and many more. Once when I came back from getting lunch for everyone (Jim always treat us) I heard such a row coming from upstairs I said to Christine (who eventually married Jim) what’s that f——g row coming from upstairs only to be told it was Buddy Rich (who was playing at Westfield) giving Jim a drumming lesson.
One frequent visitor for photo shoots was Michael Chapman the folk singer and one day he brought Mick Ronson (Ronno) with him as he did most of the arranging for Michael Chapman. I remember having a light hearted conversation with Ronno (who I knew from growing up on Greatfield Estate) during the shoots as to what was better a camera or guitar to impress the opposite sex. The next thing I knew, Ronno was with David Bowie in The Spiders from Mars which completely blew my argument for the camera out of the water.
After Jim’s place I embarked on my Butlins adventures as photographer, roughly from 1971 to 1976 Skegness and Filey. What an eye opener that was formal education is great but to learn from working professional photographers was invaluable. We used to work with the many cabaret stars of the era..Warren Mitchell, Ted Rogers, Harry Worth and Bob Monkhouse to name a few. Bob Monkhouse was brilliant, we worked with him like a dream. He’d pose for ages with the fans before his show but asked us not to photograph him after the show as he admitted his appearance “faded” a little shall we say. We held our side of the bargain and he his…what a fantastic and professional man he was . We also photographed the kids football training on Tuesday afternoons. Believe it not the likes of Billy Bremner, Allan Clarke, Eddie Gray, Peter Lorimer and Norman(bites your legs) Hunter all came to Filey for the kids football!
During this time out, of season I did my formal Arts training..Foundation at Lincoln College of Art and Exhibition design at Hull College of Art….Great days from what l can remember?
I’ve also included my dog Winnie on the pictures. Dogs have paid a major part in my life, I met my first business partner Geoff Prince because we had the same dogs, Boxers, and l met my wife Gloria at dog training club. She remembers what a nice man l was because l brought a length of carpet with me so my dog Winnie didn’t have to lay on the concrete floor and get his balls cold.
I formed my company Topcolor in 1981 from the back of a Chemist shop on Springbank West having at one time three shops with 30 staff (what a headache). We grew to having a turnover of over £500,000 in 1994…hard work to say the least. We used to produce sticky backed photographs for all over the world. The ladies of the night from London were frequent visitors to the studios, we used to photograph them in seductive poses and add the telephone number to the picture and print off hundreds of stick on pictures destined for the telephone boxes in London .
Then in 1987 I met and married my wife Gloria not only did we have two beautiful daughters Nikki and Jess together , I got a fantastic model in the deal. She’s always been a great inspiration and partner helping me with new cameras, lighting and projects etc. I can honestly say that Gloria has been the biggest influence and help with my life and in photography. Another idea we had was Glamour Calendars for the housewife to give to her husband at Christmas. Guess who was the model for all the initial calendars. This made Sky news, The local press…Good morning TV , the Derrick Jamieson show and The Terry Wogan Show…things have changed these days but I still love to photograph bands and people both live and in my studios with my one off front projection system. This project with Kate has been great it’s enabled me to rediscover my roots and interests, long may it continue
