I took this photograph in 1978 whilst I was working at Cinecitta' film studios in Rome. At lunchtimes I would sometimes go to the bar that was in the studio complex to grab a sandwich and a drink. On one particular day the bar was full of film extras on their lunch break dressed as priests, cardinals, Swiss guards and altar boys. I shot a few frames with the 35mm camera I always carried with me at the time.
A few months ago I was approached by film maker Shaun Forsdyke who wanted to make a film about me. A short form documentary profiling my work and process. I had never done anything like this before and was very happy to oblige.
Two reasons for this. Film photography and printing. For too long I have been sitting in front of a computer editing images.
The news is full of bad news. People killing each other all over the world, usually in the name of god or for greed. I try to keep up with what is going on in the world but sometimes the news is so depressing that I just want to switch off and ignore what is happening and get on with my own life and forget the suffering of others.
I haven't written a blog for over a year and a half. Apart from laziness, the belief that nobody cares about what I think and that it serves no real purpose, I think I have a good excuse.
I've been taking Polaroid photographs for a long time. The earliest images were taken in the mid '70s with SX70 cameras. The SX70 is a wonderful piece of innovative design that has stood the test of time. Although Polaroid film has been discontinued a relatively new company called The Impossible Project have started re-making film for the SX70 and also the later 600 type cameras. A lot of the old cameras that had been relegated to the bottom of the wardrobe or loft are now being refurbished. Because of Impossible Project film availability there has been renewed interest in Polaroid cameras and instant photography.
One of the reasons there are currently so few photographs on my website is that I have so many images that it is hard to know where to start. Between colour and monochrome negatives, transparencies, digital photographs, prints and Polaroids I probably have over 100,000 images.
It was at a rock gig around 8 years ago that I spotted an interesting looking girl who had quite a few tattoos. Tattoos are not my thing but one of my best friends, Sandro Danielli, is a tattoo artist. Sandro and I had recently been to the London Tattoo Convention where he had a tattoo done by Oliver Peck, the then partner of Kat Von D, a well known tattoo artist who was appearing regularly on TV.
I had just come back to the UK after spending two years in Rome working at Cinecitta' film studios. I had saved enough money to buy all the cameras and lenses I needed. I was ready to become a big shot photographer. It was 1978 and I was 22 years old. The world was my oyster and I was confident that everything was going to work out just fine.
Seems like nowadays you have to blog to get yourself noticed. It's part of the deal, the bigger picture. Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr, websites and blogs form your digital presence. According to some it is essential for your financial survival in the global market place. Or something like that.