Did I ever tell you I met David Bailey? I did, I really did.
It was long before he hit the headlines, in a pub in St. Christopher’s Place, when I had my first job as a group head in London and he was just starting out.
It was 1962, I think, and London was about to start swinging. We were both unknown – and I still am outside the murky world of marketing.
But he, of course, became one of the world’s greatest smudgers. (That was the word for lens artists when he and I were young).
As you probably know, making money out of photography is nigh-on impossible now. Cameras can do just about everything except give you a blow-job, so nobody wants to pay for professional work.
But really capturing people and their lives isn’t done through technology. That takes talent. Which brings me to my Stalker.
I met Joanne Stowell when she was taking the pictures at a friend’s wedding at the Marbella Club. She has a different approach. She’s a stalker. She watches people like a hawk and follows them around to get those unguarded moments, those revealing shots.
You can see some of the shots she took at EADIM here. To be honest, I don’t like the one of me – but she does. Maybe it looks better in the dark.
Anyhow unless you’re blind or devoid of taste, you can see she has real talent. You’ll find her at www.yourpaparazzi.co.uk if you want really special pictures. As you will see from the picture of the Scandinavian gentleman on her first page, she knows quite a few interesting people – which makes it quite surprising that she’s so reasonable
I really like the photographs – they show a lot of creativity. It's about getting that picture which I think the photographer really does achieve, rather than worrying about eggyolks!