Introduction
I was looking at my old professional editorial pictures the other day and realised that no one can guess the stories behind them. Some of them are famous people, some are just whimsical but, what is the actual story behind them? They were mostly taken to illustrate articles in magazines and newspapers which bore no relevance to my experience of taking them. The following pictures and text are my perspective…
John Benton-Harris
I’ll start at a point where my life took a sharp turn. This picture was a personal one before I became a student, it represents to me how a chance meeting with one person can change your entire life.
I was in my mid 20’s, divorced already, drifting around with no direction. I couldn’t settle on anything career or relationship wise. I left school with no qualifications, I had previously served an apprenticeship as an electronics technician and hated it. The only thing that seemed consistent was that I always had a leaning towards the arts and was a very keen amateur photographer. One day in the mid 1980s I saw that there was a lecture at the local art gallery about Eugene Smith by John Benton-Harris. I knew John as a famous American New Yorker who had made his name in the UK photographing the English.
After the lecture I approached John and we got chatting. He said that the next day he would like to explore Lincoln (him being essentially a street photographer), and could I recommend places to go. Being la Lincoln local I immediately offered him the guided tour, which he jumped at. We met in the Wig and Mitre pub at lunch-time which was where I took this picture. He was a really nice guy and very easy going.
After a few lubricating drinks we set off on our Lincoln safari. During the safari he enquired about me, my photography and what I was doing in Lincoln. He mentioned that he was a part-time tutor on a documentary photography course in Newport (South Wales). He explained that unlike a lot of photography courses the Newport documentary photography course was unique and was entirely populated with mature students. One of the criteria for entry was either life experience or that you had some interest to pursue other than just taking photographs. Photography was just the means to an obsessive end. Then John said I should apply.
Those few short words quite literally changed my life. I spent the next year putting together a portfolio and to my complete surprise they actually accepted me.
RIP John – Thankyou.