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Olly Ball: The Style Council – Our Favourite Shop session
£ 395 – £ 2,500Olly Ball’s recollections of the session are fascinating: “We shot the cover of Our Favourite Shop on a Sunday afternoon in London in April or May 1985, at Bow Street Studios in Covent Garden. I was based there for ten years.” “I wasn’t a rock photographer as such. I mostly shot magazine editorial in those days. I was offered the job because Simon Halfon, the designer, had seen some photos I’d shot for the Observer Magazine Living Extra. These were pictures of rooms based on a TV programme; so we’d have Jewel In The Crown on the TV and all the props and food would be Indian. The other themes were Dallas, Arena and The Tube.” “Most of the stuff in the shop belonged to Paul and Mick, but the snooker cue and George Best coat hanger are mine. Fran Crawley was the stylist and she supplied the counter, book-rack etc. The set was built by my assistant, and great friend, Ross Kerridge with Peter Chatterton. Paul and Mick dressed most of the set, but we were all involved, and I shot it on a Mamiya RB6x7 on a 90mm lens.” “I’m happy to say it went straight to number 1 in the album charts, but it remains the only album cover I ever shot.” -
Limited edition of 75 archival pigment prints, image size 18 x 18 inches, printed with black background, signed and numbered by Michael Spencer Jones with white chinagraph pencil on the front under the image. Unframed price.
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Limited edition of 195 archival pigment prints, image size 18 x 18 inches, paper size 24 x 25 inches. Signed and numbered by Michael Spencer Jones on the front under the image, supplied with certificate. Unframed price.
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Eric Meola, Darkness sessions: Daddy’s Garage
£ 2,310 – £ 3,465Photograph © Eric Meola, registered with U.S. Copyright Office -
Chris Gabrin: Elvis Costello, This Year’s Model session
£ 895 – £ 1,950"By the time I took this picture (for This Year's Model, Elvis Costello's second album, released in 1978) I had already photographed Elvis a dozen or more times. As his career took off I watched his confidence in front of the camera grow. In those days every single had a picture sleeve, so by the time this album came, we had done several sleeves together and Elvis was relaxed when working with me. Apart from my assistant, there were just the two of us. The concept of him behind a camera for the sleeve of This Year's Model had already been chosen, so I decided to equip Elvis with exactly the same tripod and camera as I was using to create a 'mirror' for him. Alongside a powerful stereo I kept a large record collection at my Camden Studio, and artists would choose music they enjoyed or were interested in for their sessions. Just as we were about to start shooting, Elvis asked me if I had Hotel California by The Eagles, and could I play it? I was puzzled by his choice - until he told me that he loathed the record, but wanted to look really pissed off and angry in the shots! We played the record several times during the session and whilst I directed him, I was also aware of his copying some of my own actions as I took the photographs. This picture was only recently discovered, and is the next frame to one used for the album sleeve. It has never been published before." Chris Gabrin -
Harry Borden: Baroness Thatcher
£ 625 – £ 5,800Baroness Thatcher photographed at The Lemonade Factory studios, Battersea, London, 9 October 2006 Harry recalls the shoot: " Like her or loathe her, Margaret Thatcher was a major figure in British life in the 1980s. She changed the country’s cultural and political landscape. My career as a photographer didn’t really take off until the early 1990s, by which time her political career was over. I never got the opportunity to photograph her in her pomp and glory, and thought I had missed my chance. Then in October 2006, I got a call from Time magazine. The editor was planning a special edition – 60 Years of Heroes – and my commission was to photograph Baroness Thatcher. Although by then I had photographed many famous people, getting this job was a brilliant moment in my career. During our meeting she held my hand and asked me several times, "When are the other people arriving?" She clearly thought I was shooting all the 'Heroes' at the same time, as if Mikhail Gorbachev, Nelson Mandela and her would be rubbing shoulders in this shabby studio in Battersea (picked because of it's proximity to her home). At the end she looked puzzled and said to me, “The others never came...” She was no longer 'The Iron Lady'. Just a once-formidable person succumbing to human frailty as we all eventually do. The ‘eyes-closed’ portrait was one of the last frames in the shoot and was taken using natural daylight. I hadn’t planned it. She just blinked and the idea for the picture came into my head. I asked her just to close her eyes. Even when I was taking the shot, I knew it was going to be an iconic picture. I used my Canon EOS-1Ds Mark II with a 50mm lens, with the camera on a tripod. The shoot lasted about 12 minutes. What makes this portrait special? I think when you get someone to close their eyes, they’re in a position where you can observe them. They seem vulnerable. Margaret Thatcher had so much dynamism and power, so when you see a photo of her in old age, and with her eyes closed, there’s something absorbing about looking at her and reflecting on how she affected our lives." Available in a choice of physical size options. Please ask for framing options. Please allow 2-3 weeks between order and delivery for an unframed photograph. Framing adds 2-3 weeks. -
Harry Borden: The Spice Girls, Bangkok (1996)
£ 625 – £ 5,800The Spice Girls, Bangkok 1996. L to R: Geri Halliwell, Melanie Chisholm, Emma Bunton, Melanie Brown, and Victoria Adams (later Victoria Beckham) Harry Borden photographed the Spice girls on four occasions and this is his favourite Spice Girls image. Harry explains: "The location for the shoot was a half-built tower block in the centre of Bangkok, chosen because their record company’s offices were on a lower floor of the building. After shooting a number of pictures on the roof, we came down to the office and they sat down, exhausted by the heat. I immediately saw that this scene would make a much better picture than the others I’d taken. So I quickly asked them to hold their positions and shot a few frames, using my Fujifilm 6x7 rangefinder, with Kodak Tri-X film." "There’s a wonderful line going through it, partly because of the way they are touching or linking arms, and the interplay between the two pairs of girls looks very natural. I also like the variation in light; Geri, on the left, is lit like a figure from a Renaissance painting, while Victoria on the other side of the frame is backlit. The fact that Geri is looking slightly distant is also appropriate; she was older and more worldly than the others and went on to leave the group in 1998. The picture only came about because I was alive to the situation and didn’t switch off - and shows that sometimes magic happens when you’re not trying too hard. A print is now in the permanent collection of The National Portrait Gallery." Available in a choice of physical size options. Please ask for framing options. Please allow 2-3 weeks between order and delivery for an unframed photograph. Framing adds 2-3 weeks. -
Special offer limited edition for the Masterplan25 exhibition Your chance to own a signed limited edition by Michael Spencer Jones in a special 8 x 10 inch size at a nice price. This 8 x 10 inch photograph shows one of the polaroids of Liam Gallagher taken by Michael Spencer Jones for (What's The Story) Morning Glory? in 1995. It is offered in an edition of 50, each one signed and numbered in white in the black area under the image by Michael Spencer Jones. We can supply it unframed or framed.
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Michael Spencer Jones: Oasis – Definitely Maybe contact sheet
£ 495 – £ 1,650To celebrate the 25th anniversary of the release of Oasis' landmark debut album Definitely Maybe, Michael Spencer Jones is releasing a limited edition contact sheet featuring nine of his favourite images from his key 1994 session with Oasis. Each print is signed and numbered on the front in the border under the image area, and there is a choice of two size options. -
Alex Borg – Bobbie Gentry: Ode to Billie Joe
£ 95 – £ 195Limited edition print by Alex Borg inspired by Bobbie Gentry's Ode to Billie Joe. Edition of 20 on 29.5 x 42 cm (11.7 x 16.5 inches) paper, each one individually hand-numbered and signed by Alex Borg. Can be supplied unframed or framed - select below.
