Patrick Ward
One of the UK’s finest documentary photographers tells Geoff Harris about the passions that inspire his images
Explore the work of this memorable documentary shooter
You first became interested in photography after seeing an exhibition book of ‘The Family of Man’, curated by Edward Steichen. Why did it have such an impact on you?
This book was a tremendous influence, and I’d still recommend it. It shows just how much a group of concerned photographers can achieve, especially when supported by a humane editor like Steichen.
How did you get established as a photographer after doing national service in the army?
I went on a photographic course at what was then the Regent Street Polytechnic [now the University of Westminster]. It was a general course designed to turn out all-rounders, but only served to focus my desire to be a purely documentary photographer. I then joined the ex- Picture Post photographer John Chillingworth and learnt more from him in three months than I had in two years at college. He was a very generous and supportive employer and encouraged me to seek out my own new clients. I began to get assignments from
The Observer and Queen. I went freelance when I was 24 and started working for the newly created colour magazines of The Sunday Times, The
Observer and, later, The Telegraph. I was lucky to come into photography as these windows opened.
Who were your other big influences when you were starting out as a professional?
I was surrounded by a group of very supportive friends – Ian Berry, David Hurn, Philip Jones Griffiths, Bryn Campbell, Don McCullin, Christopher Angeloglou – and we spent a lot of time meeting up and discussing our projects. So there was no shortage of advice and inspiration.
Have you always been more interested in documentary and humanitarian photography, rather than other genres?
Yes, and I remain so. It seems to me the one area where photography offers us unique and special opportunities to record our lives.
England and its people have long been a preoccupation for you. What is it about the English in particular that interests you?
Although my pictures do touch on English class distinctions and idiosyncrasies, I’m not thinking about these things when I’m shooting. I’m usually preoccupied with seeking out the essence of an event that I’m witnessing.
Maybe there are other things going on in my subconscious and maybe my own opinions creep in when I’m editing, but I always set out hoping to make an honest record of what I’m seeing.
Tony Ray Jones and Martin Parr, also famed for shooting the English, were coming to the fore in the 1960s and 1970s. Were they an influence on you?
I knew Tony Ray Jones, and was very aware of how gifted he was. I knew more of Martin Parr later, when his work was going in a very different direction to mine. I was 40 when I had my first book published, so I was firmly set on my own path.
You have lots of experience dealing with people who aren’t probably that comfortable being photographed – for example,
miners in the north of England in the 1960s. How do you go about putting people at their ease and getting them to be themselves?
Well, the funny thing is that I was pretty shy and reserved as a young man, and I suspect that the warmhearted northern miners spent their time putting me at ease! Later, when I was shooting regularly for The Telegraph and other magazines, I did become reasonably adept at winning people’s trust and involvement.
My best work, by far, has been when I have simply been the discreet observer. Whether, at some subliminal level, one is winning people over with one’s manner and body language is a very interesting question...
Which other parts of the world have provided rich photographic source material for you?
Travelling through Latin America, Mexico and Sicily in the 1960s for The Sunday Times, when I was still in my mid-20s, was thrilling. Although I do wonder if I might have made better pictures if they’d sent me there 20 years later.
Do you think social documentary photography has declined somewhat today, or are there any younger photographers you really admire?
I think there are still gifted and concerned young photographers out there, but what is lacking is an outlet for their work. Yes, there’s a whole
new world on the internet, but where are the 12-page spreads we used to see in magazines, where the pictures had room to breathe and the audience had the chance to deeply consider the photographer’s statement? Where are the picture editors who would fight to get the space the pictures deserve, and the art directors who would lay them out with respect? The young photojournalists who survive today are heroic, because they are really struggling to get their work seen.
Have you embraced the digital camera technology, or are you sticking with film?
Digital really came at the perfect time for me and helped me become a more complete and rounded photographer. I bought my first digital cameras in 2003, at the point at which I felt they were competing with film for quality and had also become affordable.
Digital cameras have gone on improving since, as have Photoshop and printers. Add to this the advent of Blurb Books [an online selfpublishing platform], and one now has the ability to take one’s photography in many creative directions, and at reasonable cost.
Tell us about the new book, Being English. Which images in there are you most proud of, and why?
Being English emerged from a meeting with Colin Wilkinson at The Bluecoat Press. I showed him a book dummy, produced using Blurb, on
the best of my worldwide work, and he suggested that I narrowed it down to being about the English.
On the strength of seeing my dummy copy, he also gave me the freedom to design the book myself, which was really important to me. Given that the book represents my best English images over a 50-year period, they all mean quite a lot to me, and I’d prefer others find their favourite images.
Do you have any salient pieces of advice for documentary photographers starting out today? Street photography is a popular genre these days, but it doesn’t seem to have much of a social or political concern underpinning it....
I think you just have to be true to yourself and find your own signature. Find subjects that you care about and make sure you stick with them so that you can dig deeper. You need to try to find that balance, where good photographic composition meets up with great moments.
I do feel that street photography is something of a cul-de-sac, where the searching for clever shapes can often end up ignoring warmth and humanity.
Do you have any forthcoming plans or projects you could tell us about?
I’m currently working on a project that’s all about Londoners and how they play in the city. I started shooting in 2009 and then, after an extended break, I have been working hard on it again this year and hope to be able to produce that magic Blurb dummy shortly.
Also, living on the River Thames, I’m shooting a project about life along the river, from its source to the sea. So I’m keeping busy! For more information on Patrick Ward’s photography, visit www. patrickwardphoto.blogspot.com