A Photographic Memory #3
eidetic • /aɪˈdɛtɪk/
Part three of my memory backup…
Anarchy in the UK!
As mentioned in the previous post, I attended a two year Visual Merchandising course at The CDT (College for Distributive Trades) in Charing Cross, Road, London. Not only did we share the building with St Martins School of Art, but we also shared the canteen as well, which was a real hive of activity and an authentic reflection of the zeitgeist. The Sex Pistols had played their first gig in the St Martins Common Room, which subsequently set off a whole new fashion trend among the students. Girls (and it was, mostly girls) started turning up in bright mohair sweaters, dog collars, leather jackets and solid black panda-eye makeup. The infamous Vivienne Westwood ‘Two Cowboys’ T-Shirt was a must-have item for some. It was wild, and it was also strange being one of only four males in my year. Two of us were straight, two were gay, and the rest were female. It was quite a reversal of sorts, entering a classroom and having female students whistle, and holler at us.
I don’t know whether the anarchistic nature of the place affected our tutors, but I do remember being quite shocked by my very first lesson, as the tutor stood there in front of the class and said, 'Imagine a turd. Now imagine a turd with a ribbon on it. That's the essence of Display'. He also suggested that we could get half price shop items by ‘accidentally’ slicing them with a Stanley Knife/box cutter while dressing the window.
One of the students in my year had a large pet python that used to accompany her to lectures, which weirdly, didn’t seem to cause any concern for the tutors, though they did say they thought she was kind of kinky. This was my first proper grounding in graphic design and window display and I loved it.
Despite the distractions I managed to graduate with 3 distinctions and an industry award which was more than likely due to the fact that I had glandular fever for a month, and enough time stuck at home to work on my projects. My visual merchandising career lasted 5 years at two different department stores and I learnt all the tricks of the trade… well, most of them.
The 26th of November 1976 was the release of the Anarchy In The U.K. single and this is Soo Catwoman gracing the cover of Issue No. 1 (the only issue) of the 'Anarchy In The U.K.' newspaper, originally produced for the Sex Pistols' 'Anarchy' UK tour. I remember seeing this in WH Smith the newsagents at the time, and I really wish I'd paid the 20p now. Featuring graphics by Jamie Reid, it recently sold for £832.00 at Bonhams!
Around this time I started attending punk gigs at The Greyhound in Croydon, and I saw The Damned, The Jam (twice), Siouxsie and the Banshees, and others. In hindsight I really wish I’d taken my camera with me more, but it was all about enjoying the moment. I remember The Greyhound staff positioning bouncers amongst the crowd, to stop us pogoing, because the sheer weight of everyone jumping up and down in unison upstairs, made the floor beneath us react like a trampoline, and cracks started to appear in the structure. A rather scary prospect!
Punk even infiltrated my place of work with the arrival of a guy called Paul, to the sign writing and ticket department. There was a strict rule that staff couldn’t get into the staff restaurant without wearing the department store badge. One lunchtime we were stopped at the door by security, and Paul, with his trademark spiky hair and humongous white Brothel creeper shoes, was asked to show his badge. He nonchalantly turned his head to reveal it pinned through his earlobe!
Tangentially to my job, I’d upgraded my camera to a new Nikon FM, using my staff discount, and proceeded to hone my photographic skills with a makeshift studio in my bedroom, a photoflood lamp and Susan, a fellow student I’d met at college.
Susan had approached me in the college canteen one tea break, and said that she’d discovered some of my erotic drawings. I couldn’t recall having drawn anything erotic, but I had left some comic book style drawings around, and I figured if she’d found them erotic that was a compliment… I guess. Anyway, she asked if I’d like to draw her, so I said, ‘well… not really, but I’ve just bought a new camera and wonder if you’d be up for doing some photos instead?’
She was, so that was cool, and as chance would have it, Susan lived fairly near me in a place called Oxted, so she came over to my parent’s place one afternoon for our first photo shoot. This was nerve-wracking to be honest, as I was still getting the hang of my new camera, and even putting the film in was kind of tricky for this 17 year old.
I was lucky enough to have a fairly large bedroom with an expanse of wall big enough to hang a dark blue background sheet that I’d nabbed from work. As I fumbled around trying to load the film in the camera, I turned my back to her so she couldn’t see my ineptitude at doing such a simple task. It was then that I heard a voice say ‘do you think this’ll be okay?’ and I turned around to see a stark naked Susan standing there in the middle of the room, just grinning. The look of horror on my face was probably the last thing she expected to see, but knowing what my mother was like, I just knew that any minute now she’d be knocking on the door to see if my guest wanted a cup of tea!
It seems ridiculous that I would turn down the chance of nude photos, but it wasn’t really what I was planning, and thankfully Susan had brought some clothes that worked well with my simple set-up of the one photoflood lamp that I’d been able to afford. Having placed the lamp behind her it created a really nice silhouette and I bounced the reflected light back onto her face with a large sheet of white card.
Before long we started using our combined display skills for props and styling, creating fantastical sets and lighting set-ups, and my interest in photography became ever more apparent. The photos I took in those sessions are still some of my favourites to this day.
Working in a Display department became pretty handy for borrowing various props, like these multicoloured ostrich feathers and a diaphanous piece of gauze, which helped with this ‘nude, but not quite nude’ study.
Susan had a particular liking for the photographs of a guy called David Hamilton (not the DJ, Diddy David Hamilton of Radio One fame, I hasten to add), best known for his photography of young, mostly nude French women. His signature soft focus style was called the "Hamilton Blur" and inspired many a pop video of the time. I remember watching one on tv, featuring two young girls in a farmhouse. One of them was sitting on an old wooden stool with her legs in a tin bath while another languidly washed her legs with a bit of old rag, in grainy soft focus. My mum walked in at this moment and said ‘Why can’t she wash her own legs?’ - brilliant!
Anyway, a few months later, things got even more interesting when Sue agreed to do a scene on a distant planet (aka the garden), while being attacked by a giant ant that my brother Martin had let me borrow. This was something he’d created for the Grosvenor Young Naturalist Society summer show, because he too was a member. The fact he made this amazing thing at the age of fifteen probably explains why he now builds props for Star Wars movies and tv shows among others.
At this point Sue suggested that her friend Carole, who worked in the cosmetics department at Gatwick airport wanted to join in, so now my mum had to make even more cups of tea.
And then I discovered Cokin™ Filters! Next: Disco, Mods and Michael Myers…
Wonderful Steve! You’ve lived a kind of charmed life. I want the book of these posts. They’d make an amazing memoir.
"she came over to my parent’s place one afternoon for our first photo shoot. This was nerve-wracking to be honest, as I was still getting the hang of my new camera, and even putting the film in was kind of tricky for this 17 year old."
Is this metaphorical?