My inspirations Archive

Born in New York in 1926, Vivian Maier worked as a nanny and took photographs in her spare time. As far as the public is concerned, the story nearly ended there, because she didn’t share her passion with others. Towards the end of her life, her archive of more than 100,000 negatives

I made sure that my copy of ‘The English’ came with me to Zambia, where it has pride of place on the bookshelf. The book was made possible by the award of an Arts Council Bursary and most of the images were taken during 1975. In the foreword, Berry explains that the

‘When you see an unbelievable confluence of chance in a photograph, remember that the photographer was there, booted and spurred.’ Walker Evans (1969) When Walker Evans made this comment, he was thinking of Helen Levitt. He had agreed to write a brief introduction to the wonderful photobook Helen Levitt. And he described

“I like ‘organic’, which isn’t always pristine.” I stumbled on Susan’s work through Flickr, the photo sharing website. We both love dogs and black & white photography, which seemed a good beginning. Then as I explored Susan’s images, I was drawn into her creative world. Sharing home with husband Leon, six dogs

‘To me, photography is an art of observation.’ Elliott Erwitt For a long time Elliott Erwitt has been one of my heroes. And while he’s best known for his humorous dog pictures, the range of his photography is much broader than that. Mr Erwitt likes his pictures (or snaps as he sometimes

‘Making a Calotype is as much a craft as it is a science’ according to my friend Rob Douglas. Having met Rob some years ago, I’ve enjoyed following his photographic journey. Starting with a digital camera, Rob happily admits that the journey has been unconventional. Nowadays he prefers to capture his images

“I don’t have a philosophy. I have a camera.” Saul Leiter (1923-2013) A friend introduced me to Saul Leiter’s work. She took me to an exhibition at the Photographers’ Gallery in London, in 2016. I was instantly hooked and I still am. Born in Pittsburgh, USA, Leiter was brought up in a

I want to share my enthusiasm for Roger Mayne’s street photography. Born in 1929 and educated at Oxford, he seemed destined for a conventional career. But he didn’t enjoy chemistry – and by the time he graduated, his photography had already been featured in Picture Post magazine. Mayne’s most famous body of

Best known for his fashion photography, there was much more to Terence Donovan than that. In the 1960s Donovan, along with David Bailey and Brian Duffy, brought a new, gritty style to fashion shoots. Instead of posing models in genteel surroundings, Donovan often used the street as his studio, with factories and

First published in 1978 (and revised in 1997) for me ‘Pictures on a Page’ is still a great read in 2017. Harold Evans was editor of The Sunday Times in the UK between 1967 and 1981, before moving to the USA in 1984. What makes the book special? -the clear, concise writing,