Wigan Album

Image dates back to 1960 and is quite possibly the first the first picture I ever had published in a National Newspaper, back in the day tabloids reserved page three for cute "chocolate box pictures" of pets or children, before the boobs and bums revolution.

I was a sixteen year old junior photographer at McConnell News Service, latterly Wigan News service, and had been sent out around town with a 5 x 4" press camera and glass plates to try to find some "silly season" cute pictures to submit to the evenings.

While walking through Mesnes Park, I spotted a little family group enjoying a game of cricket, so with a little bit of thoughtful choreography I manipulated the group into a two column set up, one of the parents was instructed how and when to bowl, and I raise the big old MPP Micropress to my shoulder and counted down. I was elated after processing the plate, to see that I had captured the ball just milliseconds after the moment of impact.

Unlike modern day machine gun photographers, with glass plates, you set the shot up and took it.... just the one, plates were pretty expensive and excuses weren't expected of press photographers, so one shot it was and this was it.