buy george!

today was meant to be my portrait tutorial, but a last minute booking has mixed up all my plans. After a couple of weeks of false start, sending out emails and waiting for replies... the week that people could do was the week I suddenly had to work. Luckily George (above) The Pearly King of Peckham was too short notice to cancel, and so I had... what I thought, the first of my local faces portrait series. I had several project lines to follow and was waiting to see who would reply first as to which I would continue to pursue. I will list my failed, or still to do subjects at the end of this email so I can at least feel I have half attempted my homework.

I had made a rather haphazard arrangement to meet him at West Sutton station on monday, probably the darkest and wettest day I have ever seen. I have never been to Sutton and I had no idea where we would go, but thought that by now there was no time to worry about it and anyway it is always good to practice thinking on your feet. As it turned out George, a true cockney gentleman who lives by his Pearly motto of Respect, Loyalty and Honour, offered to pick me up from the station and said we could go to his house for a cup of tea. George then began to tell me the most amazing stories of his life. (if you want to know more about the history of the pearly kings and queens of london either look on George's site or wikipedia!))He was born in 1938 and had an extremely harsh upbringing in Peckham, South East London. He was made deaf from the beatings and mental abuse he received as a child. His mother abandoned him and his siblings to be brought up by his father and his unmarried sister who was the source of the abuse. It was his neighbour Auntie Irene who discovered his coster heritage on his mother's side and made him his first suit of pearls at the age of 7. He would hide the suit from his family but would go and visit his sister in the local asylum where in true Pearly tradition he would go and cheer up his disabled sister and others in the hospital and bring them money he had collected while he was out wearing his pearls. And he has been pretty much doing this ever since! 

He had so many amazing tales to tell, involving from east end gangsters to royalty and everything in between that I nearly forgot what it was I was there for. George didn't want me to take a picture of him not in the pearls as he said it was a bit like Clark Kent and Superman (hopefully one day...) wearing the suit helps him to be able to distance himself from all the sadness he sees in his work, but also it gives him the boost to be able play the clown too when he is feeling down...

"putting on the pearls removes your feelings for the situation because you are thinking of everyone else"

But once George put the suit on it was very hard to decide how to make the portrait. Really I just wanted to capture his facial expressions, the way he listens, thinks of things to say... and the cheeky twinkle he gives when he says something a bit risque - but then there was the suit, which after all is what makes him the Pearly King. Basically I failed. Whenever I put the camera up to my face, George couldn't make out what I was saying and that made him uncomfortable, and me not able to try out a few different looks. Of course with hindsight I should have set up my tripod where he was sitting and used my remote as we carried on talking, another one for my "lessons learned" book - but part of me thought that maybe this was a story I could  continue over time. He had already said that I could come back to re photograph some secret things which I have promised not to discuss. So maybe George will be moved from the portrait list and onto the story list... starting next monday with his 70th birthday aboard HMS Belfast.

George has written a book about his adventures, The Hidden Whistle and Flute (suit) it is available through Amazon, £1 from each copy goes to charity, I think it should be a pretty good read. 

And now the ones one the list:

1. Photographers:

The Caravan Gallery (group photo) - no reply yet

Rankin - yes, but then I had to work, and have no word when or if there is another opportunity

Philip Jones Griffiths - sadly he was having a very bad few weeks so I haven't asked yet and now probably won't

2.Locals

George Major The Pearly King of Peckham -see above

Camilla Batmanghelidgh - (founder of kids company possible group) 

and then I started doubting myself...