Flashing

Photojournalism is in trouble. Not just because its practitioners barely make a living anymore but also because issues of privacy and child protection are being muddled by irrational fears. Local councils have banned mobile phones with cameras in sports centres and swimming pools in case they are used to take photographs of children. Parents are banned from recording performances at schools in case the images fall into the hands of paedophiles. Taking spontaneous, natural, candid photos of children has become taboo.

The paranoia has infected the media. Regional newspapers no longer send photographers to cover the first day of school. Elsewhere conditions are so unworkable, the rest don't bother. Never held in the highest esteem to begin with, the death of Princess Diana demonised the legitimate press and paparazzi alike as ghouls beneath contempt. Photojournalists regularly report instances of physical and verbal abuse by strangers, sometimes while photographing their own children. In private, press photographers fear for their personal safety especially while covering disaster scenes or snatching pictures on courthouse steps. Body armour may become just another camera accessory while art galleries are raided because an artist displays a photograph of her children and anyone taking photographs in public places is under suspicion.

The next generation may not be able to look back at today as we now can see the past. Photographer Frank Suttcliffe (1853 - 1941) would be likely be lynched - rather than excommunicated - now for persuading Whitby children to pose for 'The Water Rats'. Children at play have been photographed since the birth of photography but our legacy to the future is being distorted and censored by a social McCarthyism.

About four years ago I took my young son and daughter to the new playground in my local park. Loafing there on the swings and roundabouts were some of the local 'yoof,' ten or so boys and girls aged about 13-16. There's precious else for them to do in this rural market town but to muck about on the play equipment provided for kids ten years younger. I know most them by sight so I had no concerns that their presence would hinder my kids' enjoyment. Just as in the sepia tinted days of my youth, the game du jour was breaking the branches off trees and whacking each other with them.

The was much swearing and jeering and smoking cigarettes, texting and shouting who's shagging who and "who's a fat slag?" Then the games veered into 'Jackass' territory. With egging on from the boys, two girls in the group went over to the main road beside the park and began lifting their tops at passing cars. By the hoots of motorists, I assumed they got their desired result. The boys reciprocated with a couple of half-hearted bared arses. Then the girls had another go. This game went on for about 10 minutes.

While I was spared any sight of adolescent mammary glands, moral reasoning cascaded down through my potential actions and their outcomes. I am a photographer. I go everywhere with my camera and for a moment I had a desire to make a picture of this. It would have been so easy. Naked breasts or not, imagine if you will a pair of likely Lolitas tempting/taunting us with their shirts open beside a busy road through a housing estate. Could this be beautiful? Interesting? Shocking? Illegal? That would be the publisher's or the viewer's decision. Certainly this situation has been imagined in thousands of variations in books, films, art and advertising campaigns. I only hoped to capture that moment faithfully but also in my head was the potential backlash. My name might be trashed in the tabloids. A reputation as a pervert to be later dredged up and recycled ad nauseum. Why did I want to take a picture of this?

Certainly it was valid photojournalism. If these kids caused an accident, it would be news. Was this a sign of more liberal attitudes about sexuality and body image than previous generations? Was it a distorted rite of passage, their discovery of the original girl- power? Was it what I thought it was; evidence that teenage females in rural areas have low self esteem. Their brass was likely fuelled by a few cans of cheap beer evidently purchased at Spar and inspired by the antics on 'reality' TV shows featuring ex-skatepunks in California and Essex girls in Ibiza. They were doing it to be adored, either by the boys or anonymous motorists.

As both a parent and a responsible journalist, I was concerned that publication of such a photo might only encourage this behaviour. It would be possible to take this picture without being seen, so I could not be held responsible for contributing to their behaviour. They were not being coerced, not physically at least, perhaps they were being sucked into the vacuum of self respect and values around them. But it was the knowledge of the ready market for such an image that held me back. I'm not an anthropologist but I don't need any academic justification for taking pictures. They were doing something of their own free will but, if they ever saw it in print, they might regret it for the rest of their lives.

If I captured the moment in the name of journalism, to be effective journalism it would have to be widely seen and I would have no control over what context and where. There is an excess already of 'Spring Break' magazines and videos where college students are entertained by the publishers at parties and encouraged by alcohol and agent provocateurs to be photographed topless. It has caused pain for many participants who regret it afterwards.

If it was splashed as a sex story in a newspaper or magazine, outrage would be stirred to sell more copies. Any serious discussion of gender politics or socio-economics by Germaine Greer on Newsnight would be drowned out. In the current climate, the questions might be more about me. This time the marble dropped out of the moral maze and landed on the self-censorship button.

Those young people will be in the park another day. They may never do it again but it may happen elsewhere. It probably happens more often than we want to know. A few months after this I was picking up prints from the chemist. A youth of 16 was ahead of me, a local boy and the salesperson knew him well. As she handed him his film she told him she hadn't made any prints because his film contained sexual images. He was told not to bring anything like it in again. And, she added, she knew who the girl was and although both are over age and it looked to be consensual, she didn't think it was a nice way to carry on. Next time she would call the police just to make sure. For the sake of a reliable document of teenage sexual morals at the turn of the century, I hope he keeps the negatives.

Best Towns, White People

A while ago the following picture request came to me from a photo agency (which will be nameless) that links publishers and photographers world wide in a marketplace for stock photography. The heading was:

BEST TOWNS, USA/CANADA

I am looking for stock images including restaurants, cafes and shops. I am also looking for the good looking men hanging out, having a good time with friends or alone. I am looking for images of cultural institutions and nightlife. The men must be Caucasian 25-45 years old if they are in the picture. I need lifestyle imagery, adventure sports and gorgeous landscape or town shots.

A list followed of places such as Camden ME, Creede CO, Santa Cruz CA and so on which recently have become noticed for the lifestyle they offer.

The way the photo library works gives the publisher anonymity (to protect the broker's interests naturally) but through a third party inside another photo agency I established the wording of the request has not been changed by the agency I subscribed to and it came from a US magazine with a circulation in excess of six million (and more with editions in other countries) which has won numerous awards and attracts leading writers and photographers. It pays top dollar for quality work.

I could have supplied some of images that fit the brief but didn't like the implications that the people had to be Caucasian. Unless the story concerns race, why be specific about colour? I am not naive. I understand there's a host of commercial reasons why an editor might want the 'best towns' in America to appear populated by good looking young men but everyone in editorial photography should know something is wrong with illustrating the '50 Best Towns in America’ with photos of Caucasians only. This kind of selectivity keeps Jim Crow dancing on the lightbox.

I wrote to the agent and asked how they felt about facilitating such racism. I got a reply a minute later: “Yes, I noticed this when the request was submitted, but was leery about doing anything.... It is impossible to be sure about the reasons why they specified "Caucasian" - the fact is we get regular requests for images where the subject must be "Asian" or "Afro-American" for instance, so (unless we get overly politically correct) what is wrong for asking for Caucasian?”

I can sympathise with the agent or with other photographers for not wanting to become alienated from this client by questioning their image requests but I am not afraid to question this. I wrote to and emailed the editor in the USA for a response but never got it.

If I was in the unfortunate position of having to concoct an excuse for this lapse of judgment, I would imagine it was an honest mistake where the picture researcher based the search criteria on the magazine’s demographics. Surely there is no crime in an accidental cut and paste from a typical blurb for the magazine? The agent told me later they suspected: “the editor probably specified Caucasian to the researcher but did not expect the researcher to then pass this on to agencies.”

But I cannot find any evidence that this magazine describes their readers as exclusively Caucasian. Men 25-45 certainly are amongst its readership and there is nothing wrong or immoral about targeting a readership by ethnicity or gender but actively censoring reportage images on a racial basis is at best dubious.

I sent the request to a leading image library specialising in 'social issues' to ask what they thought. In this instance they too prefer anonymity: "There's a lot of this low level racism. Hard to pin down but insidious" they said.

What the magazine should have done is what everyone else apparently does; just ask for images and then either subconsciously or discretely reject the black or brown faces. There may well be the excuse that these towns have mostly white populations so a predominance of black faces in a given photo may give a false impression of the local population but, as the list includes 50 towns all across the USA and Canada, I don’t think this can apply to all of them.

It's a matter many I know in this industry wish was swept under the carpet but those who monitor the frequency and the contexts of people of colour appearing in the media don't need any more proof such hidden racism exists. This case is a rarely visible example of many thousands of incidents occurring every day. 48 hours after the photo researcher put out this request, well over 500 images had been submitted via the agent. That is 500 instances of images being selected from a racial perspective starting with the photographers who sent them. Some may not have noticed the brief or wished to be subversive and sent images of people of colour anyway but I will get to that later.

It is my experience as a photojournalist, photo researcher and filmmaker that if a publication is targeted at a minority or there is a desire to appear balanced, publishers have to search specifically for images of minorities such as Asians or Afro-Americans to take affirmative action. I don't notice indexing keywords describing ‘Caucasian’ in images as often as those indicating other races. If doing an image search on most popular subjects, I can safely assume that 99% of images will have white people in them. A person’s colour is very rarely mentioned in the briefs I get unless race, geography or politics are the subject.

If you ask for a photo of a ‘doctor treating patient’ I can be certain that 90% of the photos will be white doctors and white patients. Testing the theory I went to a major image library and tried these searches:

Model released image searches (not news photographs):

“Doctor treating patient” 250 photos (all white except for 16 below)

“Doctor treating patient Caucasian” 95 photos

“Doctor treating patient black” photos 16 (but same model in 10 photos)

There are certainly plenty of images of black doctors but if you want one, you have to ask and look hard. Within those images certain taboos will be adhered to. Black people are rarely seen touching white people. Bi-racial couples are an exceptional rarity.

There have been vast strides forward in the lifetime of Rosa Parks. Images of minorities doing ordinary everyday things have become a specialist niche in stock photos because efforts are being made to redress the balance. Image libraries do provide publishers with positive images of minorities because there is a ready market for them but it appears as if images in magazines are still being selected on an discriminatory racial basis.

I am ashamed to say that US and UK photo editors have told me privately hundreds of times; "black people don't sell.” What they really mean is, with a few exceptions, they don’t ‘sell’ to white readers. I can attest, as a former celebrity photographer, that sales of photos of white celebrities far outstrip those who are from minorities in huge disproportion to the population, although no one’s really counting.

Before digital photography arrived, distributing film based images cost the news agencies that employed me serious money so it was necessary to ruthlessly weed out images which had fewer prospects of selling quickly as every image took time, space and money to physically obtain, store and distribute. This led to self censorship on the red carpet. It was no secret amongst the Hollywood 'rope-rats' that black actors and musicians - except the superstars - did not get as much exposure in magazines as white. So to counter this, there were black celebrities who would give their looks or poses for any black photographers and then only the key 'white' publications. Its was once a fact of red carpet life that celebrities knew who was shooting for whom and so they directed their gaze to whatever media that mattered to them most. Many black celebrities consciously supported the black photographers working to supply the smaller media markets that existed for images of black celebrities.

Lately digital origination, storage and delivery have reduced overheads but have also lowered the bar to career entry and lowered rates paid on publication. Photojournalism and editorial photography is far more competitive now. It's much more of a scrum than ever and the relationship and implicit contract that once existed between photographers and celebrities is unenforceable now. Meanwhile our consumption of celebrity content and media overall has risen steadily. What I am leading up to is that efforts within the industry to combat racism will have to be very loud to overcome the background noise and lack of cohesion because the industry has so many more players and is more fragmented than ever before.

Personally I think any justifications for specifying ethnic representation in images are self-fulfilling. As we continue to make distinctions, we create barriers to bridging them. There is a thin line somewhere about recognising diversity and ghettoising it. Looking around, I find that others have given thought to what is only my morning coffee theory.

Writer and broadcaster Keenan Malik says in a lecture he gave; “Far from liberating us from racism, multiculturalism has become a trap, imprisoning people within narrow ideas of what their culture should be.”

The Arts Council launched decibel, its campaign for promoting cultural diversity. A noted Asian playwright wrote to Malik to explain what this means. 'As an Asian', he wrote, 'I am expected to write plays that deal with "the family". What I can't write about (as no venue will produce it) are plays that could be about anyone, but just happen to have British Asians in the leading roles.'

Malik adds: “Such ghettoisation has more serious consequences too - segregating communities far more effectively than racism ever did. Take, for instance, Bradford. From the beginnings of mass immigration in the 1950s racism has helped create deep divisions in the city. But it also helped generate political struggles against discrimination, the impact of which was to create bridges across ethnic, racial and cultural fissures. In response to the militancy of these struggles, the local council in the early eighties rolled out its multicultural programme, including a 12-point race relations plan which declared that every section of the 'multiracial, multicultural city' had 'an equal right to maintain its own identity, culture, language, religion and customs'. Council funding became linked to cultural identity, so different groups began asserting their differences ever more fiercely. The consequence was to strengthen the hand of the most conservative elements in the communities, especially the religious ones. It also helped entrench the divisions created by racism, and made cross-cultural interaction far more difficult.”

There is much academic work examining the portrayal of black people in the white media. Reviews of a frequently cited book (which I have not read) The Black Image in the White Mind by Robert M. Entman and Andrew Rojecki: “offer a comprehensive look at the intricate and subtle racial patterns in the media... these powerful images play a significant role in shaping the attitudes of Whites toward Blacks.”

When you think of racists you might think of white males from the majority of socio-economic groups attending football matches. My experience of racists is quite different. I was once on a train sitting across the aisle to a respectable looking group of white, I presumed affluent, pensioners going from Norwich to London. In about twenty minutes their conversation had gone from their ailments and their grandchildren onto to the subject that "the Pakis are taking over." They all concurred that if they get put through to an apparently Indian voice at a call centre, they put the phone down or berated the person to "speak English proper". I have no irrefutable evidence (such as a tape recording) that I was next to people with deep-seated prejudices but they plainly and unashamedly were.

Then there is well meaning but unnecessary reporting of a person’s race. I quote from a BBC press release:

Mastermind Grand Final - BBC TWO, Sunday 5 December 2004 at 9.00pm

Shaun Wallace, a barrister from Wembley, has tonight (5 December 2004) won the acclaimed title of Mastermind Champion 2004 following a nail-biting finish to a closely contested final. He becomes the 27th winner of Mastermind and the first black winner.

The fact is that in subsequent coverage, more was made of a ‘black first' than that a barrister was the winner and I had to ask the BBC what made it worthy to point out his colour? It would be relevant to point out a black 'first' in a situation where someone triumphed despite being black - such as James Meredith - but I can't think that colour has ever been a barrier to winning Mastermind before. Shaun Wallace certainly gave no indication that he had encountered any racism either nor have there been complaints about the homogeneity of the contestants. Mentioning his colour might have been relevant when saying that he could be a role model to anyone who felt alienated from Mastermind by their colour but that was never the case.

It is said “the road to hell is paved with good intentions.” I have been wary of speaking out on this subject for fear of misunderstanding. The issues are complex. I am a white man and I am ignorant of many other cultural sensitivities. I am angry at that too. I do not wish to patronise anyone and I have heard black people tell me to speak for myself but not for them and these issues are rife with the sort of factionalism satirised in Monty Python’s ‘Life of Brian.’

Can the editorial photography industry do anything about this? Individual photographers merely choosing to boycott such opportunities for sales will achieve nothing. I wanted to find if there was or ever had been an action plan to fight racism in the media. After several days research I had no luck finding it. I still don’t feel qualified to tackle this subject except in the personal terms here. I wanted to pass this slight evidence to anybody who could act upon it but nobody I asked seemed to know confidently of someone or somebody who would do something.

It was suggested at the time it happened that I offered this story to some newspapers. Alas, in my business, the rules are by all means rake up muck on the pages but not in the newsroom. For me it was tempting to expose this small injustice by a major US publisher but what would it have attained? The cost to whistleblowers usually outweighs the benefits and you can’t pay a mortgage solely with a clear conscience, I know that from bitter experience. The publishers of this particular magazine support many black people, enterprises and causes with their massive media empire. They are unlikely to face criticism for what would then be dismissed as an ‘isolated incident’.

I think the answer is to remind ourselves frequently that despite progress, such racism still exists and remaining silent gives it oxygen. We must all try to be informed of the issues and we must, subversively if necessary, in the same way it is propagated, resist.

Honesty

On seeing this story how painted eyes influenced people to behave with honesty (regardless if the research was dodgy or not), I thought I would dig out this story which was published in the EADT which I based on the transcript of a film I made in May 2005.

I had the idea to make a short film for the BBC Video Nation series about honesty boxes. As no one is speaking for them, I thought they should be publicised as this hidden economy is a convenient source of fresh food for communities without shops and selling directly to the consumer uses less resources than typical food retailing. That week my local supermarket had green beans from Kenya, apples from Belgium and courgettes from Spain.

After contacting the BBC, a video camera and blank tapes were delivered to me by a young producer and I set off to find out more.

After talking to a wide variety of interesting people I turned in my tapes to the BBC. A few days later the producer told me: "Although you got nice shots and interesting sound bites...the majority was unfortunately not usable in the context of Video Nation as it is about a personal view so having short interview pieces from a range of people in one video doesn't fit the project's format." They did use one bit of me talking straight to camera which you can see here.

16/6/05

HONESTY BOXES

By Nat Bocking

In rural Suffolk you see them everywhere. A cornucopia being sold from roadside stands. Putting faith in the public's integrity; people set out their eggs, vegetables, books, flowers and a lot more for sale from 'honesty boxes' open all hours.

In the village of Rumburgh, pensioner DIANA PALLANT stocks the weather-beaten kitchen cupboard in her front garden with her marmalades, jams and chutneys. The cost of setting up her micro-business was minimal. "I got it from the council dump for four pounds" she says. A distressed cash box is nailed to her gatepost to collect the £1 for each jar. Diana makes everything herself from local produce except the orange marmalade. At Christmas she decorates the lids and labels and always sells out quickly then. Many of her customers are regulars and they knock to ask for specific flavours. "It doesn¹t make much profit but I'd go around the bend if I wasn't doing something" she adds. Last year Diana planted a damson tree and hopes to add this to her expanding range soon.

Diana's village neighbour is the illustrator HELEN COCKBURN. Helen has 30 chickens in a ten acre smallholding and sells the eggs from an honesty box too. The two women became friends from buying each other's produce and both rely on local stands for fresh vegetables. Helen admits that given the outlay it is not very profitable but adds, "you can't have a small holding without chickens. They make you laugh. They are insane creatures that make us saner."

A mother of three children, ALEX ATHANASSOULI lives in Wenhaston. The village lost its last shop only a few years ago. Her walk home from the school gate passes several stands she depends on. "I like buying local produce. The eggs are free range. I detest battery eggs and I know the people that run the stalls. You don't have much variety but they are fresh vegetables grown in the village and I am supporting the people producing them by buying them. It gives you a sense of faith in humanity that they are accepting that people will pay for it." When the apple trees in her garden produce a crop, Alex's nine year old daughter puts them beside the road with an honesty box to earn some pocket money.

In the village of Holton there are four roadside stands beside each other. On weekends they become a shopping centre. Each has an honesty box but a watchful proprietor nearby. Bed and Breakfast keeper SAM GOODBOURN sells bits of second-hand furniture and leftover props acquired from his corporate hospitality business. Next to him a retired school teacher sells carrots by the bag. The adjacent smallholding sells duck, goose and chicken eggs and on weekends DAVID CANHAM sells refurbished garden equipment, bicycles, outdoor furniture and hutches that he makes as a hobby. Passer-by OLIVER BALLAM, a marine engineer, stopped to look over an antique bicycle for sale for £15. Oliver says he often stops at roadside stands looking for a bargain. He buys his vegetables and eggs from farm gates near his home in Waldringfield. "It¹s nice to know it¹s not coming from a faraway place and it's pretty cheap too.² Examining the bike, he thought it could make £50 later on eBay.

In the village of Westleton JUDY BOULANGER is raising money to improve St.
Peter's church by selling second-hand books and videos from a stand outside her cottage. She says "people donate the books and videos and sometimes people bring them back and it gets donated again." In two years no one has ever taken the tea caddy of coins although it can be left out all day. Asked if she thought people are more or less honest today than before she said, "I think its just the same, especially in Suffolk. I wouldn¹t know about the cities but Suffolk is very special, it doesn't change."

Retired publican HAROLD BEST always gets his apples from a farm stand just outside Darsham. The 84 year old swears by two apples a day for his robust health. The farmer here is not so trusting as the honesty box is made of plate steel and it has CCTV. Asked for his opinion of people's honesty, Harold thought; "we used to slip in an orchard and scrump an apple and the farmer would grumble but you grow up and learn that you don't do these things. If I come here and I haven't got any money, I won't go home without apples. I'd take them and when I come next time I'd bring enough for that.
If you had a word with this man here, he would say "you come here next time and bring the money" and put it in and be honest that way. They'd accept it. You have got to be honest but it is open for abuse."

Some customers admitted to using the easy credit available from honesty boxes when they didn't have the right change but they always paid for them the next time. Stall holders say they often find IOUs. For some stall holders their attitude is that if you have to steal, then you must need the charity. Helen says; "I know there's not a lot of money there so if anyone want to nick it it's not going to be the end of the world. People are OK, people are good. If you expect the worst, you'll get the worst."

There are certainly thoughtless and criminal people around who abuse this trust. Recently Sam's teenage daughter set out plants she had grown herself. By midday some copper and silver coins were visible in the old jam jar when two young men driving a white hatchback stopped and snatched them. No doubt highly agitated by their clever and daring robbery, they drove off with squealing tyres towards Halesworth. The empty jar was tossed out of the window smashing onto the road. Unfortunately for them, there were witnesses who recognised them.

The costs of loss prevention and credit and cash handling for small businesses are a large part of their overheads so for micro-businesses, relying on people's integrity and accepting the losses caused by a tiny minority can make sense. Honesty boxes are used for parking fees, garden admissions, golf courses, telephones in B&Bs, newspapers in hotels and around the world there are honesty boxes for boat hire, restaurants and even bars.

The Cambo Estate near St Andrews in Scotland has collected the admission to its gardens for 10 years with an honesty box. Owner PETER ERSKINE says, "the honesty box is more cost efficient than someone collecting the money, even if some people don't pay." He adds, "honesty boxes don't take holidays or want overtime" and he doesn't have to build a shed for them in the car park, something he felt would not be in the spirit of the house and gardens. Location is important he advises. Their takings shot up 25% when the honesty box was moved from inside the gardens to outside the entrance so that only the most brazen freeloader could claim they hadn't noticed it.

One observation gathered from visiting many stands is that an attractive, well stocked stall will never want for customers no matter what the product or the time of day. One weekend home owner said, "there might be only one cauliflower left but at least I can get one at midnight if there's no food in the house." At weekends especially, stopping at roadside stands is a recreation for many. The demand for food fresh from the farm gate is partly driven by attitudes towards supermarkets and because of the lack of nearby shops but also because the grower is the consumer's neighbour. Harold says "we expect them to take care of our food and we have to take care of them in return."

Several academics and government departments were asked but nobody could provide any figures on the size of this roadside economy. Although many producers do it more for pleasure than profit, their income is significant to the suppliers of feed, tools, seeds and so on and some micro-businesses have grown quickly into multi-million pound concerns. At least three thriving farm shops around the country recount on their websites that they began with an honesty box at their gates.

END/

Olympic Ugly?

The director of Lanternhouse in Cumbria Stephen Powell once gave me a residency as a photographer to devise what has emerged as 'Cumbria Ugly'.

I have heard he is now going to devise the handover ceremony for London at the end of the Beijing Olympics.

I'm really pleased for him as he is a top, top bloke. Maybe my project will get a push along now.

Cumbria Ugly emerged from conversations and reflections on what people consider to be beautiful or ugly about this part of the world, and from a desire to create participative, accessible, sustainable work that goes beyond the Beatrix Potter take on what makes Cumbria special and engaging. It is also an opportunity for local communities and individuals to re-engage with environments which they either take for granted or feel antagonistic towards. The project would result in a number of artefacts, physical and virtual, including a Cumbria Ugly tourist map/guide, digital video presentations, workshops in schools and colleges and performance as well as generating debate, interest and publicity. The process would begin with a countywide image audit where Cumbria residents send in photos/images of what they consider to be ugly in the county.

Betcher

My past is catching up with me. I was amazed to see a couple of months ago a 1971 film I'd almost forgotten about show up on You Tube. 'Betcher' was a cycling proficiency film, one of those C.O.I. productions they'd show you in class when it was sunny outside and you didn't want to be there. The only thing I remember about it was that it starred Peter Noone (yes, him) but now I learn that one of my co-stars was none other than Keith Chegwin. I have encountered 'Cheggers' many times as a photojournalist and I wish I'd known that the last time I interviewed him.

Now one of the 'Betcher' stars has left a comment on You Tube and so has the sister of another lead. She appears to be the gal who played 'Peggy' in the classic film 'Melody' aka 'S.W.A.L.K.

Now it all fits together. It seems these sisters and I went to the same stage school. Now I understand why the place was plastered with photos of Jack Wild.

Made by Alan Parker and David Putnam, Melody/SWALK is one of those films that really affected my generation. No one I know who has seen it forgets it. Although my favourite Jack Wild film of that era is 'Flight of the Doves'. Matt Dillon is a huge fan of this film too.

Looking the cycling film over, I think there's a glimpse of me with long hair and flares (from Biba I recall) riding a Moulton Mini. At the time I was rather peeved as the props master gave my best mate a Chopper to ride and me a bike with titchy wheels but now both are considered design classics (the bikes, not me and my mate) I can hold my head up high. Where the heck was it filmed? It'd be interesting to see how many cars are parked on the roads there now. It seemed so idyllic then.

I don't think I'll bother to update my IMDB listing just yet but there's a lot of my work I've never seen. One of 'my' films I'm really hoping to find a print of is 'Justine' made by Stewart Mackinnon at the BFI and I'd like to see the BBC Schools programme 'Watch' that I filmed on Sark in 1968 although the Beeb say the 16mm print has most likely been trashed and Stuart's people say that his film of the De Sade story never got a release and he doesn't have a copy.