A Photographic Life Podcast - 286: for the United Nations of Photography October 2023

Selected Portraits 1981- present Most of these images were commissioned portraits, however some were done for experimentation and fun! The 'angels in shrouds' backdrop featured in many of these studio portraits is an excerpt from a fresco painted by Italian artist Giotto in 1305, titled 'Lamentation, (The Mourning of Christ)'. The backdrop was [...]

Celebrating Barnsley's Night Life, November 1998 This selection of photographs was commissioned by Arts Development Officer Graham Riding from Barnsley's Libraries and Cultural Services Department. The exhibition was funded from the Single Regeneration Budget a Vision for Youth Arts programme. The resulting exhibition of large scale prints was held at Building 21, Elsecar, [...]

Photographer in Residence at Sheffield Children's Hospital 1996 These portraits were taken as part of a 6 month photographic residency at Sheffield Children's Hospital during 1996, from which a small selection are reproduced here. The photographs formed part of a publicity campaign called the 'Children's Appeal', which aimed to raise awareness to the [...]

Fenerbahçe S.K. Football Club, Turkish Süper Lig Champions 1996 This selection of photographs was commissioned by photoARTS 2000 and the European Commission's Regional Challenge Award to photograph the end of season celebrations of the Turkish Süper Lig Championship football cup winners in Istanbul, the resulting exhibition would publicise Turkey's first tournament entry into [...]

San Pedro Sula Prison, Cortes, Honduras September 1995 This assignment was commissioned by Arie Hoekman from the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) to provide photographic documentation of the chronic overcrowding and crumbling infrastructure of the prison. The photographs were to be used to illustrate reports written by the UNFPA to inform and generate [...]

Maquila Workers, ZIP Choloma, Honduras 1995 Maquilas or maquiladoras are foreign-owned, low cost factories which import raw materials which are assembled by low paid workers into consumer products that are then exported, usually to the USA. They benefit from being largely duty and tariff free and provide significant foreign-exchange earnings for the country. [...]

HIV/AIDS Patients at The San José Hospice, San Pedro Sula, Honduras April 1994 I returned briefly to the San José Hospice again in 1994. These colour photographs (digitised from 35mm colour transparencies) were taken at the hospice during April 1994. The hospice is run by Jospice International a Liverpool based Catholic charity, which [...]

Chicas Bar Brothel and Street Prostitutes,  San Pedro Sula, Honduras 1994 Chicas Bar (girls bar) is a brothel located on the main street in the barrio (district) of Cabanas, San Pedro Sula, Honduras. The brothel is owned by Oscar, but is effectively run by Erica Escobar, who is the current 'boss girl'. She [...]

The Last Days, Death and Funeral of José Martínez: An HIV/AIDS Patient at the The San José Hospice, San Pedro Sula, Honduras. Feb 1993 José Alberto Martínez, age 29, was a married painter and decorator, he was dying from HIV/AIDS related tuberculosis (TB). José had contracted the HIV virus from a sex worker [...]

Hotel Fanny: A Bordello in the Barrio Cabañas, San Pedro Sula, Honduras. February 1993 My purpose in photographing sex workers at the Hotel Fanny bordello was to make the connection between HIV/AIDS infections and the role sex workers play in the transmission of the HIV/AIDS virus into the general population of San Pedro [...]

HIV/AIDS patients at the San José Hospice, San Pedro Sula, Honduras. Jan/Feb 1993 Introduction This project originated from a trip I made to visit my sister, a doctor working with Jospice International, a Liverpool based Catholic charity based in San Pedro Sula, Honduras, during January/February 1992. I intended to produce stock photography images [...]

The Siege and Blockade of Tuzla, Bosnia and Herzegovina Nov/Dec 1993 The Bosnian War was a complex military conflict in the region of Bosnia and Herzegovina, between April 6th 1992 and December 14th 1995. The war was caused by historical, political, social and ethnic crises following the end of the Cold War and [...]

A Rural Community Health Centre, Morazán, Honduras 1991 I visited the community health centre (Centro De Salud) at Morazán, Yoro, Honduras and surrounding villages in March 1991. The community health centre was run by Jospice International a Catholic charity based in Liverpool, UK. The health centre was staffed by volunteers and medics from [...]

Street Children/Resistol Abuse. San Pedro Sula, Honduras 1991 I visited San Pedro Sula for the first time in Jan/Feb 1991. The purpose was to broaden my portfolio of social documentary photography abroad and visit my sister who was working as a doctor at the San José Hospice, funded by Jospice, a Liverpool, UK [...]

Association with Geoffrey Beattie, Psychologist and Writer. 1990-1999 Geoff Beattie is an academic psychologist, writer and broadcaster. During my collaboration with Geoff he was the Head of the Department of Psychology at Manchester University, he is currently Professor of Psychology at Edge Hill University. I was introduced to him by Ken Philip my [...]

Sheffield United 1989-90 Promotion Year These photographs were originally taken to publicise the BBC 2, 6 part series 'United', which followed Sheffield United's (The Blades) progress to Division One (now the Premier League) during the 1989-90 season. They are intended to show the club as a cohesive family of passionate fans, players and [...]

Association with Alex Usborne MBE at Picture Palace North and 104 Films Ltd. 1989-present Alex Usborne is a Sheffield based TV and film producer who runs two companies Picture Palace North and 104 Films Ltd. My association with Alex started in 1989, researching and exploring Sheffield's nightlife, boxing clubs and social housing estates, [...]

'Heart of our City' March/April 1991 The Heart of our City photographic project was part of a collaborative initiative called 'Healthy Sheffield 2000'. It sought to prevent coronary heart disease (CHD) through education and information and in doing so reduce the inequalities in heart health between different parts of Sheffield. The purpose of [...]

[HP i]  Hyde Park and Park Hill flats Sheffield taken from Victoria Quays with the Sheffield and Tinsley canal and Tulley's Boat Yard in the foreground. March 1988 [HP ii]   View from South Street [HP iii]  View from the Park Square roundabout 'Streets in the Sky' [...]

Photographer in Schools, March 1986 Sir William Romney's School, Tetbury, Gloucester The 'Photographer in Schools' scheme was organised by the Axiom Arts Centre, Cheltenham and funded by South West Arts. Its purpose was to place a photographer in two very different schools for one week. I spent a week at Sir William Romney's [...]

Artist in Industry Fellowship, 1985 This was the 4th Artist in Industry Fellowship offered in 1985, the scheme was launched in 1979 by Simon Roodhouse the Visual Arts Officer at Yorkshire Arts. It was the first of similar programmes initiated throughout the country where industry is encouraged to sponsor artists to make creative [...]

Oldham '85. Sheltered Housing, Care of the Elderly: Portraits and Conversations This project was commissioned by Oldham Leisure Services and North West Arts, these photographs and conversations were made during the summer of 1985 and exhibited at Oldham Art Gallery in September later that year. All the schemes I visited were in the [...]

'Real Fire' Commission, 1984 This selection of photographs included here is one of five photographic projects commissioned by the Solid Fuel Advisory Service (SFAS) in conjunction with Yorkshire Arts Association and Humberside College of Art. The SFAS represented all aspects of the solid fuel industry ranging from the production and distribution of smokeless [...]

The Dial House Sports and Social Club, Sheffield 1983 These photographs were taken during the summer months of 1983. This work was commissioned by David Watt from the Brewery Arts Centre, Kendal as part of a number of photographic assignments under the collective title 'And The North'. The premise of these commissions was [...]

Public Competitions, Sheffield 1981-83 The aim of this first social documentary project was to record these public events and peripheral activities centred around contests. The premise is that they reflect and characterise elements of our society at that point in time. Public competitions and related events were common place and extremely popular in [...]