Archive of Attitude

Back In The Days Paris

At La Bellevilloise in Paris – some very cool people, everyone into ‘Old School’.

And a nice French interview online as well as on TV.

Did I mention that a French journalist called me the ‘Anti Annie Leibovitz’ which is hilarious. Let’s just say I have a simpler way of taking a photo. I met Ms Leibovitz, many years ago in a hotel elevator in Texas. We were both there to shoot the tennis player Martina Navratilova. Annie had six assistants and twenty bags of photo equipment – I had one assistant and two bags .. I prefer to keep it simple

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February 19th, 2012

Motown

Last week I went to a rehearsal for the Motown Tribute show at SIR. In a small studio I met Martha Reeves – one of my all time favorites- and heard her singing Heatwave and Dancing in the Streets right there. Those songs were anthems for my teen years in London.

Ms Dionne Warwick was rehearsing that same day and Melba Moore – soul divas – and I was there to shoot them.

Next day at Carnegie Hall I heard Dennis Edwards from the Temptations – an amazing voice sounding better than ever -he was rehearsing with Boyz to Men.

Came back later for the show -the musicians looked fine and the show was a sold out success – an 11 year old kid from the Apollo sang a Michael Jackson song and stole the show.

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February 16th, 2012

Whitney Houston

When I first came to NYC I used to do a lot of shoots for Mademoiselle magazine. One day I was chatting to the model who told me her mother was the singer Cissy Houston, her cousin was Dionne Warwick and her godmother was Aretha Franklin. My soul idols! The model became a famous singer herself, the most-awarded female act of all time, she sold over 170 million albums. RIP Whitney Houston

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February 12th, 2012

Pete Townshend

Just found this photo I shot backstage at The Old Grey Whistle Test in 1981. Pete Townshend getting made up and Paula Yates in the background in a fluffy dress.

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February 10th, 2012

Stiff Little Fingers

Finding a kid for the cover of the Stiff Little Fingers single from their first album ‘Inflammable Material’ on Rough Trade Records was not easy. I decided that it should be a tough kid from a council estate or some such and went to South London to search for him. After hours of walking the streets I spotted this kid, he was perfect. It was getting dark and I asked him if I could take a photo. Later when the single came out his mum called up to ‘have a few words’ with the record company … but it all got sorted.

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February 10th, 2012

NY Giants win Superbowl – MIA

The New York Giants made the Superbowl this year. I watched the game with some Auxiliary cop friends at the precinct – lots of Superbowl food: wings, pizza, tacos, chips – and hilarious commentary.

The NY Giants won! Go Big Blue!- there was a parade 2 days later – a great day out for New Yorkers

By the way there was a ridiculous media fuss about MIA flipping the finger during the Madonna half time performance. It is only rock n roll …take a look at this photo I shot of her a few years ago – it is just part of her thing – if you have fabulous fingernails you want to show them one way or another.

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February 7th, 2012

Horseracing Monticello Raceway

It snowed upstate last week. The races at the Monticello Harness Raceway do not stop – no matter the weather. After training on the icy track in the morning the horses are steaming and the ‘drivers’ spattered with mud. The stable hands bathe the horses and cover them with blankets, the farrier comes by to change their shoes if necessary. The races start after midday. The Monticello Raceway opened in 1958, the track is half a mile. In 2006 there was a record handle (money wager for a race) of $1,432,217. HBO has a new series ‘Lucky’ about horse racing in Santa Ana and author Paolo Hewitt’s book ‘about some blokes in a pub buying a racehorse, has been made into a film. As for me, I have been wanting to take photographs at the track for a while, finally spent a day there shooting with my friend Gudrun -and need to go back to shoot more.

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January 30th, 2012

The Cramps, The Ramones & Kodak Tri X

Kodak declared bankruptcy today, we all knew it was coming, but it seems like the end of an era. Kodak Tri X black and white film enabled me to shoot bands like The Cramps (above) and The Ramones (below) in poor light, capturing them with that gorgeous grain and make silver gelatin prints in the darkroom.

I have a collection of old cameras like this Kodak 35 bought at a yard sale for a few dollars. First introduced in 1938 it was the first 35mm format camera produced by Eastman Kodak.

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January 20th, 2012

Quality Mending, the Jam fans & Bob’s Big Boy

In 1936 Bob Wian sold his DeSoto Roadster to start a diner in California The inspiration for the name ‘Bob’s Big Boy’, and model for its mascot, was six year old Richard Woodruff who walked into the diner as the owner was trying to figure out what to call his new hamburger. Wian said, “Hello, Big Boy” to the kid. The rest is history. It became a nationwide franchise and in some areas a biker hangout.

The Quality Mending Company on Prince St has a gang of the BBB dolls for sale – each franchise made it’s own doll, some were darker skinned black BBB guys, some were chunkier, some had lighter hair, but they are all have that same grin.

Oliver, the owner of Quality mending Company, has collected some of the best American vintage clothing in NYC. He collaborates with artists decorate the store’s outside wall the on Elizabeth St – I was lucky to have him make a huge mural of my photo of Jam fans one summer.

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January 13th, 2012

Street photography

From 1990 – 1995 I worked on a street portrait project – whenever I had time I took the subway to a different neighborhood with my Hasselblad to take photos of the people and the hood. Last week I saw the Vivian Maier show at Howard Greenberg Gallery in NYC – she was a nanny that took street portraits in her spare time in Chicago in the 1950’s

The show prompted me to look through my own archive – although my images are only about 20 years old they have a ‘vintage reportage’ feel. Both of these are shot on 5th Avenue, the Guardian Angels at a Puerto Rican day parade (above) and Irish girls on St Patricks’s day (below). New York is such a great city to shoot people on the street.