I spent a lifetime creating and supplying illustrations, transparencies and digital files for reproduction but can count on the fingers of one hand those that were true to the original.
How I wish then that the final output could have been completely in my own hands as it is now.
Yep, that's the reality of the professional world, Keith.
Along with Duffy, a man I never met but did admire, and without having the slightest clue that he had done the same thing but for dfferent reasons, I destroyed all the stuff I could not sell to old clients prior to my move to Spain. How I have come to regret that.
Two of my proudest achievements were black/white cals that I shot for Barbour Threads, and all that remains is a set of final proofs of one of them, encapsulated in plastic. I copied these as best I could, studioless, taped to a board and shot in indirect light in the sitting room, and they sit in the website. What a job, trying to avoid reflections from the damned plastic mummifications! In the end I had to settle for shooting a bit from the side. The other b/w one has vanished entirely, and all I have is the memory of working on it with the delightful Jaleh Hadad from Bobton's agency. A third, the first, actually, calendar for them was done in colour and they printed it in-house. Two trannies survive and are also in the web site. But the point is this: had I all those negatives still, I'd be able to scan and make really nice files for that site, instead of filling it with my 'amateur status' stuff that doesn't mean that much to me. I remember distinctly thinking at the time of the massacre: you loved those shoots; be careful! Sheesh.
From the fashion days, nothing at all apart from a print that I discovered of my muse wearing Lee Bender (Bus Stop), shot in '72. There was stacks of stuff shot for
Impact, the Glasgow end of Harrod's
Way In (boutiques), that was used as full or half-page ads in Glasgow newspapers, and nothing... damn it, those ads alone would now have been body enough for a show, quite apart from the historical value! I have to say, digital brought a lot of problems with it, but did it bring access and
possibilities with it too!
We had good times, Keith. I felt a bit odd this mornng with my body clock a bit out of kilter, but as I drew the blinds and opened the shutters to let the day in, I though hey, a great day! Every day's a great day: it's ultimately what
we make of it that defines the outcome.
Definitely time for that second mug of tea!
;-)
Rob