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B+WTop Self-portrait, late 1960s
Middle Isle of Wight Festival, c.1968
Below Morecambe, c.1967All images © Tony Ray-Jones/National Science & Media Museum/Science & Society Picture LibrarySEE THE PICTURES
The English Seen by Tony Ray-Jones is on
show until 21 December at the Martin Parr
Foundation, 316 Paintworks, Arnos Vale, Bristol,
martinparrfoundation.org. The book Tony Ray-
Jones (co-published by
RRB Photobooks/Martin
Parr Foundation) is now
available, price £48, from
rrbphotobooks.com and
martinparrfoundation.org.In 1962 Ray-Jones took a year of absence
from Yale and moved to New York. On
arrival, he took a job in the design
department at Columbia Records and made
friends with Joel Meyerowitz.
Following a chance encounter with Alexey
Brodovitch (former art director at Harper’s
Bazaar), Ray-Jones attended classes at his
famous Design Laboratory, which at that time
was held at Richard Avedon’s studio on 57th
Street. Fellow students included Robert
Frank, Irving Penn and Garry Winogrand.I
n 1963 Ray-Jones returned to Yale to
complete his graphic design degree and
spent his spare time photographing the
Dixwell area of New Haven, where he then
lived. On graduating he took a job as a
magazine art director and designer in New
York and frequently commissioned himself to
shoot stories that appealed to him. Alas, his
time in the US came to an end when his visa
ran out and he was forced to return to the UK
in 1966. ‘Once it was decided, he planned his
return like a military operation,’ says Jobey.
‘He was ready to take on a big personal
photographic project.’
This big personal project was his own
unique take on the English, shot in black
& white and focusing on coastal resorts,
small towns and villages. He began his
research in earnest, filling notebooks with
lists of counties, books and seaside postcards.
His images showed the eccentricity of English
life: ice creams eaten in the back of a car,
awkward beauty pageants, whacky customs
and traditions.
Ray-Jones was a driven man, with a sense
of urgency and determination. While his
career as a photographer was short-lived (he
died of leukaemia in 1972 at the age of 30), he
left behind a body of work that succeeded in
placing artistic vision above commercial
success. Attitudes towards photography were
beginning to change, with large institutions
planning exhibitions and print sales on the
rise. Ray-Jones played a part in this evolution.
His work continues to influence and inspire
generations of photographers.