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B+W
F
or British photographer Tony Ray-Jones
there was no such thing as negative
space. The areas between the
components of an image were so loaded
with meaning that it’s clear he considered all
things equal. The child approaching the edge
of the walkway with a black dog close behind
her in Ramsgate, c.1968, for example. Nothing
is superfluous, everything plays a part in
communicating his message.
Born in Wells, Somerset, in 1941, Ray-
Jones lost his father (artist Raymond Ray-
Jones) to suicide at the age of eight. Despite
this challenging start, he went on to study
graphic design at the London School of
Printing in the 1950s, where photography was
on the curriculum but, to begin with at least,
not on the young man’s agenda.
During his second year at the LSP Ray-
Jones attended a photography exhibition at
Regent Street Polytechnic with a friend, and
having looked at the work announced that he
wanted to become a photojournalist. As luck
would have it, one of the tutors at the LSP
was Rolf Brandt (brother of Bill Brandt), who
took the student under his wing. As a result,
he stayed on for another year to indulge in
his passion for photography.
When the course ended, Ray-Jones applied
for a scholarship at Yale University, submitting
a series of images taken from a taxi window in
Algiers. On the basis of this proposal he was
offered a two-year scholarship to study
graphic design in the US. ‘When Ray-Jones
got to America, it was a revelation,’ says Liz
Jobey in the book Tony Ray-Jones. ‘For
somebody who had spent his childhood and
adolescence navigating the traps and
snobberies of the English class system, it was
liberating, stimulating, creative and diverse.’Top Ramsgate, c.1968
Middle Butlins Holiday Camp,
Clackton-on-Sea, c.1968
Below Derby Day, Epsom, c.1967ON SHOWWhile his career was short-lived,
Tony Ray-Jones continues to inspire
generations of artists with his unique
take on the English. A new exhibition
at the Martin Parr Foundation in
Bristol celebrates his contribution to
British documentary photography.NEWS