John Szarkowski, Director of\u00c2\u00a0Museum of Modern Art, New York (1962-1991)<\/span><\/em><\/span><\/p>\n \u00c2\u00a0<\/p>\n “His work spanned just a decade – he died aged 30 – but with his striking 1960s images of Britons at play, Tony Ray-Jones helped change the face of British photography for ever.”<\/em><\/span>\u00e2\u20ac\u00a8<\/em>\u00c2\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Liz Jobey, The Guardian, 2004<\/span><\/p>\n \u00c2\u00a0<\/p>\n Books of Tony Ray-Jones’ work-<\/p>\n As part of my research for this project, last summer I paid a visit to the National Media Museum Photography Collection<\/a> in Bradford whose<\/span> extensive collection encompasses not only that of The Royal Photographic Society Collection, the Kodak Museum and the Daily Herald Archive, but also the Tony Ray-Jones archive. Many of the original photographs from Ray-Jones\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 classic book on England\u00c2\u00a0 <\/span>‘A Day Off; an English journal’ <\/strong><\/span>(Thames & Hudson)<\/em><\/span> are held in the Collection alongside his diaries and notes from the project.<\/span><\/p>\n Given the huge significance of Ray-Jones’ landmark book \u00e2\u20ac\u02dcA Day Off\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 (which was published in 1974 after his death) and its legacy as a document about England and Englishness, I was keen to see his original prints and read extracts from his diary in person. \u00c2\u00a0On a personal note, Ray-Jones’ work had also been an important influence in my early development as a photographer and given I’m now about to depart on my own photographic journey around England, \u00c2\u00a0I wanted to explore a bit deeper the work of this visionary artist.<\/span><\/p>\n Of his work in England, Ray-Jones wrote in Creative Camera<\/em><\/span> (1968): \u00e2\u20ac\u0153My aim is to communicate something of the spirit and the mentality of the English, their habits and their way of life, the ironies that exist in the way they do things, partly through tradition and partly through the nature of their environment\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6For me there is something very special and rather humorous about the \u00e2\u20ac\u02dcEnglish way of life\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 and I wish to record it from my particular point of view before it comes Americanised. We are at an important stage in our history, having in a sense just been reduced to an island or defrocked and, as De Gaulle remarked, left naked.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n In the introduction to his book \u00e2\u20ac\u02dcTony Ray-Jones\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 (Chris Boot Ltd, 2004<\/em><\/span>) Russell Roberts writes \u00e2\u20ac\u0153A Day Off<\/em><\/span>\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6..contrasted the veneer of modern leisure with a perception of the deeper significance of tradition and custom. It is an image of England from the perspective of both insider and outsider, employing a mix of empathy and ironic detachment, and laced with sardonic wit and pathos.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/span><\/p>\n and<\/span><\/p>\n \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Looking at A Day Off<\/em><\/span> we do not see a stoic, entrenched nationalism in the face of imported values, but an account of Englishness that constitutes a more playful commentary about identity. His point about an England becoming increasingly Americanised invites us to find in these photographs traces of US influence and possible sites of English resistance. The celebration of \u00e2\u20ac\u02dclocal culture\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 heightens the differences in Englishness, and he presents a range of images that both reflect and undermine stereotypes.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/span><\/p>\n It was fascinating (and humbling) to read Ray-Jones\u00e2\u20ac\u2122<\/span> notebooks, which were full of lists, plans and ideas for possible pictures for his England work and revealed an extremely methodical approach to his organizing of the project. As seen here where he outlines possible ideas by location and places alphabetically \u00e2\u20ac\u201c<\/span><\/p>\n \u00c2\u00a0<\/p>\n \u00c2\u00a9 Tony Ray-Jones\/National Media Museum<\/p>\n \u00c2\u00a9 Tony Ray-Jones\/National Media Museum<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u00c2\u00a0<\/p>\n Extracts from his diaries highlight some of the struggles he encountered balancing editorial assignments and producing his own work, as well as funding the project. There was also a fascinating list, headed ‘APPROACH’:<\/span><\/p>\n \u00c2\u00a0<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"http:\/\/we-english.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/04\/rayjones-books.jpg\" "\\"rayjones-books\\"")
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