Monday, October 04, 2021

"The George Orwell of British photojournalism"

I probably first came across the late Colin Jones' work courtesy of Marc Davenant posting pictures on Twitter, and just assumed that - like so many others - he'd made his name photographing my native north east. However, while his first picture spread for the Observer was indeed of Mackems scouring a colliery waste tip for salvageable coal, his subjects ranged widely (as this Guardian gallery shows) - from the stars of the Swinging Sixties to civil rights protesters in Birmingham, Alabama and young, disaffected children of the Windrush generation living in a squat in Islington that became known as the Black House.

His obituary makes for an interesting read - not least because of his unusual career path: he was a ballet dancer before becoming a photographer. Cyber wasn't an option back then, I suppose - for which we should be grateful.

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