September 29
Nearly October and the weather's nice, still
sunny and warm. Off to meet Geoff Barton and Debbie
Bennett (Gary Bushell's ex-fiance, we all have
our sins) to shoot Noddy Holder - a dvd is coming
out on Slade. Shoot over lunch at the Landmark
Hotel. Strange, when I was younger I never enjoyed
this type of photo shoot, but enjoyed shooting
reportage of Noddy. |
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Jimmy Page told me to tell him this story. Jimmy had
gone to the NEC in Birmingham with Robert Plant to see
Little Richard and Jerry Lee Lewis. People in the crowd
kept coming up and asking if they were reforming for
Christmas shows. Jimmy noticed he was being ignored
and Robert was getting pestered all night. 'What's going
on?' 'They think I'm Noddy fucking Holder,' said an
indignant Plant. 'Noddy said 'Yes, I'm always being
asked if I'm Robert!'
Kazuyo looks at my Noddy photos. 'He's so handsome
- not like the usual perverts you hang out with.' Remember
Kazuyo also thinks Shane McGowan is gorgeous...
September 27
Home, we both stop for breakfast at Heathrow.
I'm tired and I know I'm moaning.
Don't feel like it, but as I'm invited I drive
to the east end of London to see Phil Collen's
new band, Man Raze, play at the Spitz club by Aldgate
East station.
I enjoy it. Herr Collen gets his shirt off in
the second song to show off his kick boxing body.
The songs are good - Skin Crawl, Halo, and Low
stand out. I noticed how strong Phil's voice
is. Paul Cook is a good solid drummer and Simon
Laffery looks about ten years old... |
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Drove home across the city. It was lit up - thought
it was more impressive than NY. I've never been to the
Monument (where the Great Fire of London started) -
I'll try to go this coming Sunday and shoot a bit of
London...
September 26
Strange weather - looks cold. Go out and it's quite
humid. We all go around the West Village. Look at the
Morrison Hotel art gallery. The woman working there
is serving some customers. 'We get Robert Plant in all
the time when he's in New York,' (she's trying to sell
a Zeppelin print) 'and that man looks a little like
Jimmy Page,' she whispers. Silly cow.
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I try out my new baby lens on Jimmy and Wilf.
I take a GREAT photo of Jimmy which he hates because
he's smiling... He then takes some of me trying
to distort the image as much as possible. |
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Finish off the day going for a steak - real old New
York. Fly home at 9.30 with Jimmy. The crew ask for
his autograph, very politely. Bumpy flight out of NY
- must be getting plane phobia...
September 25
At 6am I get up and head off to Greenland Cemetery
in Brooklyn. I'd read it has views of the city - well,
it has lots of Union generals graves and you can see
the city, but obscured by trees buildings etc. My friend
Patrick Haley told me he shot 9/11 from here - there
is no clear view. I am not very happy. Patrick claims
the trees weren't here before - they are a hundred feet
high. Patrick is fucking stupid or I'm fucking tired
- probably both. Go back to the hotel unhappy.
Have a big photo shoot with Jimmy all day in
a nice studio off the Westside Highway. |
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See Concorde parked on the river, now a tourist attraction.
Shoot all morning, then Jack White arrives, who I'm
shooting for a magazine cover.
The White Stripes are playing Coney Island tonight but
we are too tired to go...
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He is easy and has a good sense of humour. Shoot
some stuff of Jack and Jimmy together, and holding
each others guitars. |
Go off for dinner in the village to the Blue Ribbon
(which is open until 4am) with a posse of ebay wankers
following us. Jimmy tells them not to bother, he's not
signing anything. They won't give up, they even beg
- it's pathetic watching them...
At the Blue Ribbon we are asked what temperature we'd
like our lamb cooked at? We all look at each other -
warm, hot...? How pretentious can you get - what are
we supposed to do, cook it ourselves?
September 24
Up at 5am - off to Toronto today to see my Uncle
Dennis, who is eighty-seven. The dawn is nice -
shoot it with my Sureshot... Take off - get a long
view of Manhattan and the morning sky. I love this
part of the day. |
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Spend the morning with my uncle. He's from West Ham
and emigrated to Canada after World War II. Dennis
is quite an expert on killing Germans - he was in the
commandos. Was caught on Crete and ended up in Colditz
prisoner of war camp for several years. He's still
not that fond of his old friends in Europe... He tells
some good stories - "Killing Was His Business
And Business Was Apparently Good"...
Dennis tells me my Dad was a fanatical Aston Villa
supporter. He remembers going to the cinema in West
Ham with him in 1925 (when he was five) to watch them.
The captain was was called Walker - a Who fan? My father
never watched football when I was around - strange what
you find out...
Fly back mid-afternoon. Hear from James and Wilfred
who are going out but getting pursued by a load of pretend
fans who are trying to get stuff signed to sell on ebay.
On the way back the plane circles Manhattan - breathtaking
views. But I'm on the wrong side and get pictures of
nothing...
Off down to the village early evening with Wilf
and Jimmy. He takes us to a store called Evolution.
It has, 'erm... Interesting artifacts. Well, dead
people. |
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September 23
Up at 6am. JBJ is doing the Today Show live at 7am.
I was supposed to be going but I can't be bothered to
deal with all the Jersey Syndicate around him... End
up watching it on tv live at the Rockefeller Plaza -
In a Blaze Of Glory.
Feel guilty for not shooting some dawn photos of NY
- I'll do it Sunday...
Jimmy arrives after getting the "Man of the Year"award
in Rio. We go wandering around the new Time Warner building
then off to Tower Records. We both get the new Bob Dylan/Martin
Scorsese dvd and I get some Chinese and Korean art house
films. Jimmy buys Outrider and Live at the Greek on
cd - he doesn't have them. We sit in Starbucks and watch
the rush hour human traffic go home... Wilf arrives
- none of us can decide what to do. So I suggest the
new Hard Rock on Times Square. So, chicken wings and
ribs it is...
See my Page and Beck prints on the wall - I'd sold
some to Don Burnstein, aka Fifty Dollar Don... Don buys
prints, guitars, and toilet paper for the hotels. Donald
had asked me not to sign the prints, promising my name
would be printed next to them. And, of course, NOTHING
- I'm going to be having a word with Don...
September 22
Gave in and bought a Nikon zoom lens. I prefer fixed
lenses, but after shooting the last couple of things
with the DX2 I think I need it...
It's 1pm in London and I can't get motivated to pack
to go to New York. I'm flying at 6pm today, meeting
Wilf Wright, who's coming from Moscow, and Jimmy Page,
who's coming from Rio. I'm going to try out my new zoom
if there's some nice clouds.
Don't know what I'm going to do this evening - attack
Tower Records...
As I sit in the seat on my flight the pilot comes
and introduces himself. He tells me he reads my
website (I thought this was a joke) and he invites
me into the cockpit and shows me the route we're
travelling - straight over the Atlantic. He then
upgrades me to first class, and tells me how much
he enjoys my travel photos. I'm now in seat 3A
- the bad part is all the windows are too dirty
to shoot out of. The purser asks if I'd like anything
(champagne etc). 'Can you clean the windows?' She
looks at me like I'm crazy... |
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Arrive into New York at 9pm. As I'm checking into
the hotel run into Jon Bon Jovi, who invites me for
a drink in the bar (In a Blaze of Glory). Quincy Jones
is there with a stunning looking bird. I go off to Tower
dvd...
September 21
Terry Hack calls (he's the owner of my photo lab,
Bayeux). He's noticed I've been shooting digital. 'Leave
it out my son, you're bang out of order,' he says, 'if
you keep it up I'll set Dominic and Paul on you (his
heavies and Millwall fans). I promise to shoot more
film. I'd looked at two rolls of David Gray shot on
film and it was better...
Have a meeting with my agent Simon and a documentary
maker who wants to follow me around the world for a
few months for a tv show - on the art of being, er,
me (photography is art - if you don't use flash). It
looks quite promising. I'll see what his concept looks
like...
September 19
Leave Dublin after a full English breakfast including
my favorite black pudding (fried pigs blood, fat and
gristle). It's sunny and I'm sad to leave. Arrive back
to an overcast London - something's wrong here... It
does get sunny later though. Sort out my David Gray
photos. Kazuyo points out to me that he looks like my
old mate Matt Kent - he does a bit, like a typical Millwall
fan...
Off to Shepherds Bush to shoot HIM. With the
exception of myself, Kazuyo, and Laurence Baker,
all the twenty-nine other photographers are shooting
digital with flash on camera. |
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Now I call them photographers and I'm being kind
because any idiot can shoot live with a flash gun
- there is no skill to it and it doesn't make you
a photographer. Well, thats my camera lesson for
today... |
It was hard to shoot properly, but I got some good
stuff. Saw Ville after the show - he thanked me for
shooting and was genuinely pleased to see me. Ville
reminds me of a Metal Bryan Ferry - he is charming and
the girls love him.
September 18
Get up at 7am - for no particular reason. Realise this
is the date I first saw The Who play, at the Oval cricket
ground with The Faces and Mott The Hoople in 1971 (I
was rather young). It was also the first anniversary
of Jimi Hendrix's death.
Speaking of concerts I'm off to Dublin today to see
David Gray. He's playing at the Olympia. God (it's Sunday)
I hate Ireland. Phil Collen told me it's changed - they
have coffee shops as well as pubs. He hates it as well
- everybody is drunk and the cab drivers swear more
than me and everyone chain smokes. Perhaps I'll see
Paul Brannigan swaying from pub to pub...
Arrive to a sunny Dublin. I can't understand the cab
driver - he could be talking Martian... I find out
they've banned smoking in Dublin - FANTASTIC! - I
may move here...
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Watch David Gray's soundcheck at the Olympia,
a nice old venue, small but with a good photo pit
for shooting. I have to shoot him offstage - I
go up near the roof. It is very run down, like
something out of Oliver Twist - the light is perfect. |
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Peter Hall, the pr, goes to get "Diamond
Dave" - he comes back on his own. 'Er, he's
just eating and wants to do the interview first.'
'Come on, go and get him,' I say, 'the sunlight
is perfect.' I wait half an hour and the light
has gone. A stony-faced Dave appears. |
I'm introduced and tell
him about today's review in the Independent magazine.
He's called the Mozart of MOR and James Blunt the upstart
pretender... "Diamond Dave" is not impressed,
'Cunts' is all he says (I didn't know the Independent
had murdered his last cd)... I shoot a couple of frames.
He looks bored and is showing no interest at all...
'Can we try a few in the dressing room?' I suggest.
Off we go. He sits down, texts on his phone and looks
even more disinterested. He now starts to put his face
in his hands - I give up, shoot six more frames, thank
him for being so kind (like Jon Bon Jovi) and leave
him to it - In A Blaze Of Glory"...
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Shoot the show. He's very good, so is his drummer,
but it's hard due to the fact that David rocks
his head all the time like a puppet in Thunderbirds.
Still, I enjoy it, and Peter Hall did try as hard
as he could - I'd told him not to worry, I've dealt
with far worse... |
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We go to the Olympia aftershow bar. It has framed,
signed photos of The Nolans and Dana and many more Irish
celebrities... The bar is serving Paddy and Powers whiskey.
I stay a whole two minutes and walk back to my hotel.
The streets are full (and I'm not joking here) of Paul
Brannigan lookalikes, all drunk, walking into walls
and falling over, staggering around the streets of Temple
Bar. I see a figure throwing up outside my hotel - 'Top
Of The Morning'...
September 17
A sunny day - wonder how Queer Dave feels...?
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It is so nice I shoot stuff around my house
and try to do some self portraits. |
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| Off then to London for lunch with my mate Gordon
Gheller. |
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Shoot clouds out of the
train windows. Have a go shooting in the tube/subway
- don't think the pictures are that good...
Phil Collen calls me (he's in London). I haven't seen
or spoken to Phil since a very depressed me ran into
him in New York two years ago. We catch up for a couple
of hours. Def Leppard have fired Q Prime, their managment,
and are changing a lot of things. Phil has a new band
called Man Ray - they are playing on the 27th in London,
I'll go. Strange when you talk to someone after a long
time - it feels like I only saw him last week...
September 16
I had decided to have a nice quiet evening watching
art films (Three Iron, and The Mayor Of Sunset Strip)
and reading the papers - old age is creeping in...
I get a knock at my door at 9.30pm. It's a
friend of mine who's a professional fitness trainer
- "Queer
Dave". Dave was in the army (he's very proud
of this). His regiment was the Royal Green Jackets,
also known as The Royal Gay Jackets. David is
not gay but he is a little strange. 'I can do
a hundred one-arm push-ups...' He brings vast
amounts of wine. 'Let's get on it and go out
and find us some women.' I decline his offer
and try to watch my dvd's. |
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He says I'm boring and polishes
off the wine then asks if he can have some tequila.
I have a bottle. 'Help yourself, ' - he does. 'Take
some pictures of me,' he begs. He takes of his shirt
to show me his army tattoo. Of course I love trying
out my DX2, and he's going to regret this as I snap
away... He staggers around my house then falls out
my front door at midnight - 'I'm going clubbing to
find some big women.' I go back to my dvd's... |
