Fireside football ..

 

 

 

 

 

 

The weather outside is frightful, but the fire is so delightful and, do you know what, I'm really getting into the fact that this year's world cup is in the 'winter'. Gone is the guilt of a July tournament, sitting in front of the telly on a glorious summer's day, missing out on a tan, worrying about how much gardening needs to be done. Oh yes, this way it's so much better. The weather outside is frightful - far too horrible to be out there gardening - and you can't beat stacking up the wood-burner ready for the first afternoon kick-off of the day, so yeah, bring it on. Even my teams have joined in with the feel-good stuff, with 6-2 and 4-1 wins in their first matches ..

England, England, allez les bleues ... 

(Today's shot? One of my earliest ever colour slide photographs, taken circa 1977 outside an electrical store in Eccles.)

COP out!

 

I'm a bit confused. It seems the Egyptian COP 27 climate talks have been hailed a great success .. yet not a thing's been done to slow the burning of fossil fuels. It would appear that the ever-hastening decline of the planet is not really of any concern as long as the world's richer planets pay the poorer ones for some of the damage it causes. I mean, fucking crazy, or what???..

We can't go on like this. Something has got to change. But it never will, will it? I'm not going to spout on as if I knew the answer, 'cos I don't, but having eight billion people on the planet is never going to help, is it? So yes, I'll put my recycling in the correct bins, cycle rather than drive if I can and watch the developing world pop out those wee bouncy bundles of fun. Aw, lovely .. 

 

 

 

Read all about it .. or not!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Did I mention I'd written some books? 'Page 99, by Joe Bancroft', SNAPS, and an illustrated children's book series about Space. Anyway, time for an update on their sales. 'Page 99' got off to a flying start, and I've sold at least 20 copies since it launched in June. SNAPS is a different matter. It launched a month ago and to date has sold .. one copy. My children's books have sold none at all.  (Stop playing that violin!!)

Like I've said in my blogs, I knew it was going to be a tough job to get the books out into the public realm, but I didn't think it would be this hard! Why not help a starving author and treat yourself to a nice Christmas present at the same time? You can find details of my labours here ..  Merry Christmas!

Oh baby ..

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 I find it rather depressing to hear that there are now more than eight billion people on Planet Earth. Eight BILLION!! Isn't that horrendous? But what I find odd is that no-one ever seems to mention the population as a cause for the global climate mess we're in now. It would appear that 'having a child' is everyone's inalienable right, which is all well and good but half the people in the world can't afford the kids they've so desperately wanted. The headline next to the 'eight billion' is the forthcoming famine in Somalia ..

Blackmail, kidnap and sponge-cake ..

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

On the radio today I heard 'Don't stop the cavalry' by Jona Lewie and I froze. What? Christmas songs already? But we've only just hit November ..

Fear not. If the thought of the approaching Yule has sent you into a present-buying frenzy then I can help. I have the perfect gift for the person who has everything. My second novel, which I launch today and just in time, if you ask me ..

SNAPS is about the members of a Yorkshire camera club, following their lives and photographic projects as well as - as a pal of mine so succinctly put it - their petty rivalries, backbiting and illicit sex! All that and blackmail, kidnap and sponge-cake (as it says on my back cover!) And don't worry if you have no photographic knowledge. You won't need any of that pesky stuff as you follow the fourteen club members on their adventures around South Neldon ..

The book costs a mere tenner and, funnily enough, I highly recommend it! Search on Amazon in your country. 

UK readers can buy a copy here, US readers here, French readers here and Aussie readers here ..

Enjoy!!!!

Nowt but a lad ..

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I always feel like today's a day worth commemorating. October 11th was the day I was offered my first ever job as a press photographer. October 11th .. 1978! (OMG, forty-four years ago!) I still have the letter I received from Eddie Shah, the renowned newspaper tycoon who went on to stir up the print unions in London. He threw in a motor-bike and forty-five quid a week. I was on my way ..

Incredible to think of the things I've done and seen since that long ago day. And incredible to think that, today, the skills of press photography are all but forgotten. (iphone, anyone?) So glad I was there when I was .. 

 

 

Fancy a good read ..?

 

 

 

 

 

Oh dear, that didn't go so well, did it? Ladies and Gentlemen, I give you .. the September sales report for my self-published book. A little disappointing, to say the least. I knew it was going to be hard to market but .. Jeez! 

Hey ho, October is another month and, God knows, there might be ONE of you out there that fancies a read of it ..

Is there? Anyone? Help .. !

(Here comes the commercial break ..) 

 

There's nowt new ..

 

 

 

 

 

There's nothing new in photography anymore. I've known it for a long time, as I scroll through Instagram and Twitter, looking at all the 'up and coming' new stars of photography. Yeah, yeah, same old, same old. Same for music, too. Same for ..

Oh, shut up and get to the point, Martin ..

The point? There is no point. (Jeez, that sounds heavy, doesn't it?) No, I just wanted a reason to show you this pairing of photographs, taken 44 years apart - the donkey yesterday and the horse when I was a mere lad of 18. Both shots amusing in their own ways, but the 'horse' shot all the more interesting now because of its historical emphasis. You just don't see phone-boxes like those any more. (I explore the idea of photography as 'recorder' in my book, 'Page 99, by Joe Bancroft', if you're interested) ..

So perhaps there is a point, after all. The idea that every generation's got to have their spurt of creativity, before you're forty years on and your work is same old same old ..

Haven't I written this before? ..

Her Majesty, The Queen ..

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I'm proud to say I was once the 'official' photographer to The Queen. I was covering an event in London's Hyde Park, at which only one photographer was allowed to take photographs for the sponsor. This was 1989, long before digital photography, and I was shooting on both 35mm and a Mamiya 645 120 roll film camera. I'd love to be able to show you the results, but the client insisted on taking my negatives, and I've never seen them since! ..

What I can show you is this rather odd photograph, taken in about 1975. I was fourteen or fifteen, and had learnt that Her Majesty would be passing down the motorway on a Royal visit to the area. I snuck out of school, positioned myself ready for the moment and .. well, thank God that lamp-post wasn't another two feet to the right! ..

I'm not a Royalist and, despite having photographed many of the Royal Family over my years as a press photographer, I still begrudge having to kow-tow to people who are only in their privileged positions because of ancestry. However, today's a day to stop and reflect, and to think of the amazing years of service given by Queen Elizabeth. May she rest in peace .. 

The day Di died ..

 

 

 

 

 

 

It's twenty-five years since Lady Diana died in Paris. Time to dive into the archive for this shot of her getting off Prince William .. so to speak! The Princess was in South Manchester to inaugurate the boat, which still gives cruises down the Bridgewater Canal in Sale. (It's certainly had a better start in life than the Prince of Wales aircraft carrier!!) This is one of two times I photographed Di, and she was always great to us cameramen, squashed into whatever corner the Secret Service had corralled us into ..

Now all I want to know is .. where the hell did those twenty-five years go?

  

Working with the stars ..

 

 

 

 

Sorry NASA, you may not have blasted off to The Moon yesterday, but I've already spent the last couple of years working there. Kind of!..

I'm delighted to say I've just finished a series of children's adventure books based on Space travel. I've written and illustrated a set of four books featuring The Moon as one of the main characters, along with the Sun, the Earth and a cast of stars and planets and .. a Black Hole!

The books are aimed at children from the age of eight, and are fun and educational with lots of interesting facts about astronomy. 

(Brief diversion .. if I was ever to believe in omens, a Beatles song has just come on the radio. Which song? Across the universe! You couldn't make it up ..)

Anyway, have a look here for a glimpse of each book, including pricing and details of a free print offer, and you can contact me directly for any of the books.

I'd love it if you gave them a try .. 

 

Houston, we have a problem ..

 

 

 

 

 

 

Today's cancellation of NASA's moon rocket launch took me back in time. In 1989, a pal and I set off on a Pan-Am jet to Florida to watch the launch of a Space Shuttle. "Oh, don't y'all know?" said a stewardess on the Jumbo. "It's been cancelled!" ..

Cue a week of boozing on Daytona Beach and a bizarre night in a bar to watch The Climax Blues Band. 

The only song of theirs we knew was 'Couldn't get it right' .. Whoops!

The word on the street ..

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

When I was a kid - seven or eight, probably - I received a postal order for a pound after I'd had a letter published in my weekly 'Speed and Power' comic. I was absolutely thrilled. About as thrilled as I am this morning, having received an e-mail from Amazon with the details of my first ever Royalty payment. Yes, I am earning money from my book, at long last! (I'm not going to tell you how much, but let's just say the yacht's on hold for a wee while yet!) ..

'Page 99, by Joe Bancroft' is what I call my 'factional' story (a mix of fact and fiction) of a young Manchester lad who lands his dream job as a press photographer on a local newspaper. It took me about five years to write, edit and finally self-publish on Amazon but, oh boy, has it been worth it. The reviews and comments I'm receiving are like honey to my heart, and it's fascinating to see how the book hits readers in different ways. There's been lots of 'laughing out loud',  lumps in the throat and sadness at the way Joe Bancroft's life progresses, and one reader even told me it related to her own experiences of dealing with dementia and COPD ..

 I now have five 'five-star' reviews on Amazon's website, and sales from as far afield as the USA, New Zealand and Australia. Requests for signed copies from friends and family are always a delight, too ..

I apologise if I'm 'going on' about the book but, having enjoyed my position as author, I must now take on the role of the Marketing and PR department .. (Sales! Graphs! Units!) .. but, above all, I want to get the book out to as many people as I can - people who'll enjoy a good read, a good laugh, a heart-break or two and a warm look back at life at the end of the 1970s ..

Spread the word .. please!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Reet chuffed ..

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We had a lovely afternoon in the village yesterday. Our library held an event called 'Partir en livre' .. basically 'Lose yourself in books' .. and, very flatteringly, I was asked if I'd join several (real) authors to give a reading from my books. (One writer was a friend who topped the Sunday Times fiction list when her book came out last year).  In the end, I managed two chapters from 'Page 99, by Joe Bancroft' before I was squeezed by the schedules (ouch) and had to forget about reading from my children's book 'Swapsies' ..

But what a 'novel' experience it was. I got some great feedback and even shifted a few units to add to my million-seller target. (How lovely to be asked to sign the books, too.) To top it all, one lady said "Loved the Book Fest. Great readings from Martin, super book, loved listening to it in Martin’s northern accent .. "

Eeh, that made me reet chuffed, that did!

 

 

And we have lift-off ..

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The first man on the Moon .. seems so long ago, doesn't it? Probably because it is! Fifty three years ago today to be precise. But what exciting times they were, especially to a nearly-nine year old like myself. I was absolutely fascinated by 'Space', forever gluing Airfix Lunar Modules to papier mâché 'moon surfaces' whilst watching James Burke and Patrick Moore explaining the intricacies of forthcoming 'TLI' manoeuvres. I did a lot of reading, too. The Observer Book of Astronomy and the Peter Fairley Space Annual were never far from my side ..

Which brings me to a new book about 'Space', one which I've written myself. I say 'one', but it's actually the first in a series of four adventure books I've created for children and which I'm thrilled to launch today ..

"Swapsies" is my story of The Sun and The Moon and The Earth, and of how The Moon helps The Sun to find all its friends in Space. The books are educational yet funny, and I'm very proud to say I did all the illustrations, too. I'll be reading from Swapsies at a book event this Sunday in our local park, and I hope it's soon filling a space on the bookshelves of many a wide-eyed new young space enthusiast ..

( If you'd like a copy, you can click here to order .. )

Three, two, one .. lift off!

Hooked from Page One ..

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

"I was hooked from the first page .." So begins a lovely message from a new reader of my book "Page 99, by Joe Bancroft'. "Joe is wonderful .." she continues. "I laughed and I cried. So many people will be able to relate to this book in so many ways."

Well, what more can I add, dear blog fan? Constantly trying to think of new ways to market my book, I can do no better than relay her words to you, and hope they move you enough to buy the book. (Think how you'll boast when it finally comes out as a film. "Oh yes, I was one of the first to read it, you know?")

Pleasing for me was the fact that this person found "it was an eye opener to read about the life of a press photographer" (though relax ..  it's not a book about press photography) and, best of all, she describes my work as "a real person telling it how it was .."

I am very flattered! Very flattered indeed ..

 

 

Ladies and Gentlemen, my new book ..

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Writing a book, they say, is the easy part. After that, you've got to market the bugger! So here I am, marketing the bugger, and you're going to have to get used to me going on about it. Yes, I've finally self-published my book, after probably four years of writing and editing (and trying to find an agent!) ..

Page 99, by Joe Bancroft, is the semi-autobiographical tale of a young Manchester lad who lands his dream job as a press photographer on a local newspaper (ring any bells?) There's a lot more to it than that, of course, and it feels good that it's finally all down on paper ..

I've already had a great review, which ends with the line "Personally I loved the book and can't recommend it highly enough, I can relate to so much that Martin has written about, a joy to read, go on treat yourself to Page 99" .. so that's a good start, isn't it?..

If you fancy a good read, you can get hold of your own copy on Amazon Kindle. 

I really hope you'll give it a go ..

Now and then ..

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

An accident in the family meant that I've just had to go back to the UK for the first time in four years. Can't say I was delighted about the trip but decided to make the most of it by having a little wander around some of my old haunts (once the emergency was over!) The changes were astonishing, and I thought it would be fun to put some new shots together with old pictures from my archive. I have to say that poor old Eccles is looking a little worse for wear. (Either that or it was always so, and I just never noticed because I was just a kid.) Lots of vape shops and boarded-up pubs, take-away food shops and litter. Quite depressing, really. I won't be going back for a long time ..

God Saved The Queen ..

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Well, she made it! Seventy years on the throne and good luck to ya, missus! Can't say I'm a big fan of The Royals, though I WAS once rather chuffed to be the sole photographer allowed to cover an event with The Queen in 1989. (I don't own a single shot from the event .. the client insisted on taking all the negatives and says now they have no idea where they might be!) So, enjoy your four-day holiday UK, and here are a couple of photographs from the 1977 Silver Jubilee, taken when I was a mere stripling of sixteen. (That's my sister, in her bedroom!) 

God Saved The Queen!..

Thirteen years ..

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And so I mark another year since the death of my Dad. Thirteen now, though it seems like only yesterday. Here's the daft bugger with a big Bell's whisky he won in a raffle. When the booze was gone he filled the bottle with one and two pence pieces and gave the whole amount to the Children's Hospital in Manchester. You can be sure I'll be raising a glass to you tonight, Dad!

One for the ladies ..

 

 

 

 

 

 

It's International Women's Day, so here's a selection of my shots of International Women, though the only ones that are really on my mind at the moment are those poor ladies in Ukraine. God help you, ladies ..

A world turned upside down ..

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It feels like the world has been turned upside down this morning. Russia has invaded a European country and I can scarce believe I've just typed that ..

I can only hope that Putin comes to his senses (!!) and that this disaster resolves itself quickly. I pray for the people of Ukraine ..

22.2.22

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Two, two, two, two, two! Another excuse for a blog and what better than my lovely archive shot of Morrissey, lead singer of The Smiths, taken almost forty years ago at Manchester's Free Trade Hall. The Smiths? What've they got to do with .. ah, well .. wasn't one of their songs 'Vicar in a TU-TU'?

Groan!

Back in my day ..

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

On another day, I might have called today's blog "On being smug and thinking it was better in the old days" .. because that's exactly how I'm feeling! 

I saw a tweet the other day from a photographer asking how they could cut down on the amount of time it took to edit their work. I wasn't the only person to reply "Take less shots! Yesterday I watched a TV programme featuring a young photographer from Liverpool, who's made quite a name for himself by photographing gigs. At one point a caption came up that said he took 'between 1,000 and 2,000 shots per gig'. Reader, I nearly fainted! Holy shit, that's a lot of pictures. I've never taken that many shooting a whole bloody wedding! Does kinda make you think he just leaves his finger on the shutter button and machine-guns what's in front of him, doesn't it?

So why am I feeling so smug? Well, I'll tell you. When I photographed the Joy Division gig in 1979 I sensed that this new band was 'different'. They were so exciting and different to anything I'd heard before that I decided to throw caution to the wind and use a second roll of film. I took the sum total of 72 photographs! Man, I was crazy in my youth ..   

(And just a quick note on today's photo. It's from the Manchester Air Show, circa 1978. I love the guy shooting on a Mamiya!)

2.2.22

It struck me the other day that I haven't written anything here for a while and so, when I got onto this site, I was surprised to see that, this month alone, eighteen people have already read my blog .. and we're only two days into the month. (And that's without even writing anything since last November!) So I got all pretentious and precious and thought that I must write something new today, simply to please 'all' those interested people.

What to write about was a different matter. (Things are pretty quiet around here these days!) My photography consists only of Instagram posts showing leaves and frost and trees - and, of course, I haven't shot a wedding for a long, long time - so I'm hardly in a position to blow your mind with any new photographic insight.

And then it struck me. Today is 2.2.22 and if that's not reason enough to write a blog then what is? Now then, I've had this picture of my Dad on my computer screen for quite a while now. (He's sticking up TWO fingers! See what I did, there?) The reason for the image is that I've written a book that's kinda, sorta based on the years I spent sharing a flat with him, so I've looked at it a lot when I've been searching for words to put down. It's called 'Page 99, by Joe Bancroft', and I'm very, very, very, very proud of it. Getting anyone else to show any interest in it is another matter altogether. I've now submitted it to .. get this .. eighty-nine literary agents without a sniff of anyone wanting to take it forward. (Make that 90 .. I've literally had another rejection this afternoon!) But keep trying, I hear you say. Think of J.K. Rowling. Well, I've thought about her and it doesn't help in the slightest, thank you very much. No, I think my next move might have to be self-publication. Amazon Kindle beckons, and I'll let you know when I hit my first million.

If anyone out there .. anyone! .. is interested in reading my book then please let me know here. It's all about music, looking for chicks .. oh, and press photography .. and is funny, sad, historically interesting and a fab look at the shared lives of two working-class blokes in 1970s Manchester.

As with all 'authors' I feel that, once it lands in the right place, my book will prove to be very successful. When it is, I'll then unleash my second book on the world and try to get used to all the world renown. My second book? Yes, that's right. I've written TWO!

  

My view ..

 

 

 

 

 

We're a few days into the COP 26 conference in Glasgow and, not surprisingly, there's been rather a glut of depressing tv programmes about climate change. On one, an Australian woman was talking about a plague of mice her farm had suffered, after enjoying a bumper crop of cereal after years of drought. Literally famine or feast! The presenter then cut to a shot of Madagascan islanders, starving to death because of the way we're fucking up the world. And then it struck me.. 

 Which was the more sensible species? The mice, obviously! Their population only exploded when there was ENOUGH food to go around. Our population is expanding regardless of any such consideration. The mud hut in Madagascar was literally teeming with little children, brought into the world even though their parents knew they lived under incredibly unfavourable circumstances, and you have to ask yourself .. why? The matriarch of the family described the kids as 'gifts from God'. He should have given them the gift of reason, and perhaps they might have worked out that having so many children might not be such a good idea after all. Religion has got a lot to answer for!

I can't say it enough. Contraception should have been the first thing the COP 26 delegates discussed this week. We have GOT to cut down on the number of people on this planet. Critics of my position tell me that, if my parents had used a condom that chilly November day back in 1959, there would have been no such thing as 'me'. My answer is .. well, I wouldn't be here to worry about that, would I?

COP .. Contraception on Prescription!

Please!

Half a bloody century .. !

What were you up to exactly fifty years ago today? I'll tell you what I was doing .. my French homework! I know this because I still have in my possession the exercise book in which I did it. (I'm a right little hoarder, I am!)

Yes, half a century ago - September 27th 1971 -  little eleven-year old me had just started at Eccles Grammar School and was getting my first taste of the French language. Little did I know that, fifty years on, I'd be living in the country and still trying to learn it!

Oh well, at least I've done my homework!

 

 

 

 

Four years!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It's the late summer Bank Holiday Monday in the UK, a date that will stay with me forever. It was on this day, incredibly four years ago, that I photographed my last ever Wedding in England. Now, as I sit here - completely retired - it feels a different world. Weddings filled my days back then .. either shooting them or editing them or promoting myself and looking for bookings. Man, the hours I spent trying to get couples to book me for their Big Day. I don't miss it a bit ..

Me and Abe Lincoln

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Another Father's Day, and yet another year without my old pop. Here we are in New York, well over half my lifetime ago. I fucking hated that 'Abraham Lincoln' beard he'd decided to grow, but now I'd give anything to give that bristly chin a cheeky scratch. Miss you Dad x

Over the rainbow ..

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

After three years, I'm still trying to get my books published, and I was rather encouraged to hear that the daughter of a friend of mine has just had her work accepted, until she told me that it had taken ... FOURTEEN years for that to happen!

I'll be almost 75 in fourteen years. I hope I've still got my marbles about me to enjoy all the acclaim, the TV shows, the book tours, the wine, the women, the song ..

Ah, dream on, Martin. Still, it's a nice dream .. the publication, that is, not the wine, women and song. One just needs to keep one's chin up as one trundles along that long and unforgiving road. 

There must be gold at the end of the rainbow ..

 

To Dad ..

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It's twelve years today since my Dad died. Here he is around 1980, aged about 47. Sharing a flat with him in my twenties, I was never short of a model whenever I needed to test a new lens, or a new way of lighting. He absolutely loved having his photograph taken, and you can see why. He really was a handsome bastard ..

This week, my Carte de Sejour finally came through .. my legal permission to live here in France. I was delighted, of course, but one of the things that cheered me most was the reaction from people who saw my card. Wow, they said, you look just like your Dad. Ha ..

Love you, Dad ..

 

The wait goes on ..

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

"A good read."

"Your powers of description are excellent."

 "The characters are nicely portrayed, to the extent that they're easy to visualise. I can even hear their accents."

 Just some of the compliments coming in for my latest book, called SNAPS, which is out now in .. absolutely no form whatsoever! (So a big thank you to the patient pals who've taken the time to read the stuff I've sent them!)

No, sadly, I still haven't had any publishing interest in my work and am now seeing that as a badge of honour. Hey, if it took 47 attempts to get Booker prize winner Shuggie Bain into print then I'm right on track!

I'm sure success is just around the corner, though. I can feel it in my bones. The best-seller list beckons for both SNAPS and my first book, intriguingly entitled Page 99, by Joe Bancroft. Both are based on photography. 99 is semi-autobiographical, and SNAPS is the completely fictional story of the South Neldon Amateur Photographic Society. Well, they do say 'write about what you know,' don't they?

 So, any literary agents out there reading my blog? I'll be home all day if you want to get in touch!

Meantime, a nice shot of my Mum, taking my picture in about 1974. Question is, where's my Mum's bloody picture of me ..?

No ordinary Joe ..

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I'm marking Saint Joseph's Day with a photograph of my favourite 'Joes' .. my Dad and my Grandad.

In the Catholic Church, Joseph is the patron saint of workers and, in these two guys, the name couldn't have been more apt. Man, they were grafters ..

My Grandad always used to tell me he was a gravedigger and, to this day, I'm not sure whether or not he was joking. I know he used to scare me to death with stories of ghostly sightings in the graveyard ..

As for my Dad, the poor fella never stopped working, right up until the day, way back in the early 80s, when he was made redundant. Talk about being thrown on the scrapheap .. 

Tonight I'll raise a glass of Guinness to these two strong Ulstermen, now both long gone. And to Dad, an extra special thank you. He gave me the middle name of Joseph and, today, I couldn't be more proud .. 

Hail Mary ..

 

 

 

 

 

 

A year ago today we dashed out in the morning for one last bike ride before a noon lock-down kicked into being ..

That's it. End of blog. Well, it's not as if I'm the only person in the world to be going through this, is it? No, it's just an excuse to show you one of my travel shots, this one from Brazil showing care-free holidays and a bit of intercession from The Virgin Mary. Two things we're probably all praying for, right now ..  

Just like the old days ..

 

 

 

 

 

 

This weekend I did something I've not done in a long time. I unwrapped the cellophane from around a new CD ..

(I almost feel that, at this point, I should explain to younger readers exactly what a CD is!)

How exciting it was to open up that clear little box and listen to versions of songs I've never heard before. It brought it all back. All that rushing to record shops to buy the new Blondie single, and waiting outside HMV for The Smiths latest album. I can even remember when CDs came into my life, picking them up second-hand in America and then having to buy a CD player when I got back to the UK ..

My friend says I'm stuck in the past when it comes to my taste in music but I try, I really try, to listen to new stuff that I might like. The trouble is, I don't like it. Music really was better in my day (© My Dad, circa 1978)

So yes, it's been a long time since I bought a new CD. The irony is, it was a CD of Manchester band The Diagram Brothers 'Peel Sessions' recordings, which came out in 1980 ..

Ooops ..  

A day without music ..

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

There's not a lot of moshing going on at the moment, is there? Not that I go gigging very much these days, but it's a shame for 'the kids', who are being deprived of a very vital part of their lives. I couldn't have lived without bands and music when I was in my twenties ..

As if to illustrate the point, I happened upon my diary for February 1981. It tells me that, this exact week forty years ago, I went to see Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark, Bad Manners and the UK Subs, and also that The Spliff Radio Show were on the Old Grey Whistle Test and there was a new single from a band with the very apt name of The Photos ..

Just to show that's not a fluke, the next week I went to see The Drones, the Expressos, U2 and The Freshies, and the week after that I saw Duran Duran, Discharge and The Revillos ..

Out of all those I can only remember the U2 gig, which was at Manchester Poly, where there was a big painting of Dennis the Menace on the wall. Gives a bit more meaning to their song 'A day without me' ..

It's a long road ..

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I'm thinking of having my yacht re-sprayed. It looks so boring in white ..

Sorry, I'm getting ahead of myself. When I get a yacht I will no doubt, at some stage, have it re-painted. I will have bought a yacht because the film rights to a book I've written will get taken up by a big Hollywood studio and I'll be assigned the role of artistic director to oversee accurately creative filming. The film rights will have been bought after an unsightly mega-tussle because my book will be such a massive best-seller that all the studios will want to get it to the big screen. The book will have been so successful because nine publishers all wanted to get their hands on it and the highest bidder paid out big styley. The publishers went crazy for the book because seven separate literary agents all wanted to represent me ..

And this is where I wake up again. At the 'literary agent' bit. Yes, I'm having a bit of trouble with that bit. 

Like a zillion other 'writers', I don't seem to be able to get anyone interested in taking it on. By sheer coincidence, I got yet another rejection email this morning but an email from one agent described perfectly to me how hard it is to get selected. She receives, she tells me, five manuscripts every .. what? Every week? Every day? Folks, she receives five manuscripts an HOUR!

So, the yacht, the respray, the mega-tussles .. it'll all have to wait. I've got a long road ahead of me ..   

It's the little things you remember ..

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Thirty years ago today I was trekking in the Himalayas and stopped at a hostel that had a short-wave radio. On the BBC World Service news that evening, I heard that the 'Desert Storm' Gulf War had started.

"I can't believe it," I said. "That's my friend, reading the news!" And so it was. My pal, who now works for the Financial Times, was the newsreader that fateful day in January '91. Doesn't sound so special now but, back then, to hear my friend's voice when I was half-way up a mountain range in Nepal was amazing.

By 1992 I was in New Hampshire, where I photographed this 'Desert Storm' train set in a shop window.

It's the little things you remember ..

 

 

A world of difference ..

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

As a thirtieth birthday present to myself, I bought an airline ticket and took off on a six-month 'Round-the-World' back-packing trip ..

 It began on the sixth of January, 1991 ..

Exactly thirty years on and I'm living in a completely different world, one in which that dream is now an impossibility. No-one can go anywhere, anymore! The Covid pandemic's got us all in its grip, and even poor old STA travel, with whom I booked my ticket, has ceased trading because of it ..

I was going to call this blog 'The opposite of lockdown' because, flying off from Heathrow at the start of that trip, I'd never felt such freedom in my entire life. Today, people can't even step outside their front doors ..

I'm not writing about my trip to show off, I'm simply marking an amazing personal anniversary and thanking my lucky stars I was to be able to fulfill my dream. How fortunate I am to have such fabulous memories ..

Covid is never going to be a fabulous memory for today's thirty year olds. Here's hoping that their world - and ours - will open up again soon .. 

(Ps: If you're interested, this picture was taken in Moorea, the island across from Tahiti. I've always been fascinated by the 'Mutiny on the Bounty', and the inlet on my right is where they shot some of the Anthony Hopkins' film version.)

 

Knock it on the head ..

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The late and lovely Duke of Westminster, about to get clonked on the head with a hammer. At least, that's what it looks like, in one of the weirdest PR photographs I think I ever took.

Years and years later I have no idea why I was taking it - something about a charity helping people, surprise, surprise - and I think this old chap may have helped to build the shed, for some reason. All I know is that - because it is so corny - the shot had stuck in my mind and I was delighted when I found it again in that 'old box of negatives'.

It's New Year's Eve, and I'm not going to do all that 'looking forward' stuff that one's supposed to do at this time of year. No, I'm going to take a leaf out of our little dog's book and simply live for the moment. Let's just all enjoy what we've got and who we've got, if we have someone.

Happy New Year, everybody! 

And 2020? Let's just knock it on the head ..

Time for the children ..

 

 

 

 

 

 

I'm still trawling through a big box of old negatives, with some great memories coming back to light.

This morning I found this one ..

After the disaster of Chernobyl in the mid 1980s, a group of children from the town were brought over to Manchester for a holiday. It was then that I took a picture of this delightful little girl, with her cute 'hat' and her beautiful smile. She'll now be nudging forty years old.

Everything's so fleeting in this life and I don't know where I'm going with this blog other than to say 'Merry Christmas' to everybody, and hope you cherish what you've got.

Peace, love, vodka .. 

Beat that bug ..

 

 

 

 

 

 

It's twenty-one years since the world was battling with another 'bug' that threatened to take over the planet.

The Millenium Bug.

It was a major worry, with everyone being told that their computers could crash and the world would go to gerbil shit ..

It never happened!

The only thing that changed was that I made a few bob out of shooting PR photographs to promote awareness of the possibility. I had to visit all sorts of businesses with a selection of 'Millenium Bug' material - including the four foot high cardboard bug in the 'pub' picture - and plonk it into my shots to get the message across. Interesting to note that, in December 1999, I was still shooing film. No computer crash was ever going to cause my photographs to disappear!

I can only hope that the 'other' bug is consigned to history as quickly ..

 

 

Hello Dad ..

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It's got to be the biggest cliché in photography but, yesterday, I literally spotted a box on top of my shelves and wondered 'What on earth's in there.'

Lots of wonderful negatives .. that's what was in there!

Family shots, street scenes, pictures I'd forgotten I'd ever taken. Snaps I took in the office at my first newspaper and shots taken during an eight-week block release at Sheffield College in 1981.

Shots like this, too, of my Dad in 1978. I used to share a flat with him and would rope him in to 'model' every time I wanted to try out a lens or some other gizmo.

I happen to be listening to the radio as I write this blog and, of all things, a song has just come on that he used to sing all the time. Cliché, coincidence? Probably both of the above but I definitely felt he was watching down on me this morning ..  

 

 

 

My latest book ..

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

So what did you do during the latest lockdown?

Well, I'm glad you asked. I wrote my next book, that's what I did.

And, do you know what, I already have something in common with the Man Booker prize winning novel, Shuggie Bain. Yes, I've been rejected .. already! Hurrah! Only 41 more rejections to go, now.

It's called Page 99, by Joe Bancroft and I've absolutely loved writing it. 85,000 words and a real dive into the world of a young press photographer on a local newspaper. (Where DO I get my ideas??)

So yes, now the fun begins, trying to find an agent that will take my work on board.

Don't worry, I'll still love you when I'm famous!!!

Forty-five quid ..

 

 

 

 

 

 

On October 11th, 1978, the renowned newspaper tycoon Eddie Shah wrote me a letter. Ok, it was actually his secretary, but he did sign it, so that counts! The basis of the correspondence was this: he was offering me a job with Messenger Group Newspapers. I'd got a job as a press photographer, at just turned 18 years of age. 

I was in! ..

That letter changed my life. I still have it, stuck in one of my many scruffy old scrapbooks ..

"Dear Mr. O'Neill, we are pleased to offer you the post .. "

Magic words, and amazing to think of the places and people and occasions they've allowed me to witness over the ensuing forty-two years. On my first day in the job - the first day - I had to photograph the captain of Manchester United! Thank you, Eddie Shah, for giving me that chance, so long ago ..

And hey, it gets better. That dream job, an ambition from the age of thirteeen, a job I'd have happily done for nothing .. he threw in forty-five quid a week as well ..

Four ..

 

 

 

 

 

 

And so we start our fourth year in France. Zut alor!..

The joy of gîtes ..

 

 

 

 

 

Well, goodbye guests. That's the end of the summer season for La Galerie, our little gîte in downtown SW France, and what a short season it was. Thanks to Covid we were shut from March until the beginning of July but, we're delighted to say that, as soon as restrictions were lifted, the bookings came flooding in. We had Dutch guests, French guests, Scottish guests and .. some English!!

Now, I'm saying it like that for a reason, and that being, as much as we like and need them, the English are so bloody messy! They don't seem to be able to tidy up after themselves when they leave. The Dutch? Brilliant. Same for the French, the Spanish, the Scots, the Poles and every other nationality of guest we've welcomed here. But the English? Well, they seem to think we're some kind of skivvies, put on earth for the sole purpose of cleaning up the mess they leave behind them. There seems to be a general attitude of 'leave it, we're on holiday'. Look at this photograph of the shelf in our bathroom. Disgusting, isn't it? Still, I suppose I shouldn't complain. The guests left us a great review. The gîte, they said, was .. "spotless" !