Stephen Lovell-Davis

Brick Lane market - London 1990

Brick Lane market in east London used to be one of those street markets where people would sell anything. My friend Peter once bought two prison cell doors there! For my part, notable finds included a lovely Voigtländer rangefinder for £1 and a pair of Campagnolo Tipo bicycle hubs for £3. The chap in this picture had attached a sort of string washing line to a wall to display the suit he had for sale. The market still exists but it is much smaller and more regulated than it used to be.

On the Croisette - Cannes 1990

Sutton’s Plaice fish and chip shop - Wainfleet, Lincolnshire 1997

I was photographing coal-fired fish and chip shops for a food magazine when the coalman who delivered to them came in for his fish supper.

Tusken Raider goes shopping - Liverpool 1979

This area of the London Road has changed somewhat since then. The bank building in the distance is still there but the row of shops they are standing in front of has been knocked down and replaced by a branch of Lidl. I have always imagined the dismay of the shop owner when they found out their 'painless ear piercing' sign was spelt wrongly.

Mersey ferry - Liverpool 1977

Men waiting to disembark to disembark at the Woodside Ferry in Birkenhead.I remember the ferry having a 'Smoking Saloon' which was just a room you could smoke in but always sounded a bit Wild West to me.

Woodside Ferry entrance - Birkenhead, Merseyside 1977

I love the chalkboard notification of the price increase to a shattering 12p for an adult!

Trinity May Ball - Cambridge 1986

This was the morning after, when everyone waits around to be in the Survivors photo. This chap had obviously over-celebrated somewhat and had to have a little sleep on a lawn by a marquee.

Children with prams - Stonebridge Park 1976

These two children were struggling down the steps with their prams, maybe they had just found them, or they were using them to get shopping etc for their families. The boy has a classic Silver Cross but it’s rather small, possibly it was meant for dolls. The girl has a pushchair called a ‘Cumfifolda’ and I’m sure I was pushed around in one of these as a child. It was stored in the garage and I can remember thinking that ‘folder’ was spelt wrongly… and ‘comfy’ too, come to that. 

My father used to take me to this bridge to watch trains when I was young. I stood on the handrail on the right and that would give me a great view of trains tearing past on the down line from Euston. We would go to the nearby Ace Café for tea and toast afterwards. It was a real bikers’ transport café in those days and I remember being scared of the dangerous-looking bikers. Despite this I liked the music on the jukebox, ‘Ghost Riders in the Sky’ (The Ramrods version with the cattle and whistles!) was a particular favourite.

Marks on my wall - Camberwell 2008

When I was at art school, I did a lot of quite abstract drawing and printmaking and this looks very like some of that work. In fact it is the marks left on the wall by my bicycle brake levers over many years. This is a lith print which is why it has this particular colour.

On Loch Shiel - May 2014

Sometimes when you are fishing you become obsessed with hunting and catching the elusive beast, other times you are just bowled over by the beauty of where you are and that's enough. This was one of those times.

Beach photographers - Cannes 1993

This was taken during the film festival and appeared in the Independent Magazine under the headline ‘Pretend Paparazzi’ with text by the late Ruth Picardie. We had both noticed the scrum of men around this bikini-clad woman. It was obviously an arranged thing but not, as far as we could tell, associated with a film. Also, the majority of the men didn’t really have very professional-looking cameras… or indeed, footwear. But who am I to judge? I was there taking pictures too. On Polapan, by the way, hence the rough edges.

Unknown gymnast - Tate Modern 2003

This was during Olafur Eliasson's Weather Project at the Tate Modern which had a mirrored ceiling in the turbine hall.  People lay on the floor and looked for themselves. This woman was with a group of friends and was doing some gymnastics.

Sit-in demonstrator - Archway, London 1977

My first front page. I was covering this for the Hampstead and Highgate Express. It was a demonstration about a road plan and got coverage in the national newspapers. The Ham & High ran it as a front page and its legendary editor, Gerry Isaaman, called me into his office to tell me that we had a better picture than all the nationals. I was very proud of this and it made up for the bollocking he had given me a few weeks earlier about failing to get a picture he had sent me to get!

B52 - Mildenhall Air Fête 1991

I suppose it’s ok to look sinister when your primary function is to deliver a nuclear bomb. The Boeing B52 was the USAF’s main strike bomber during the Cold War and, although superseded, is still in service. I took this at an air show at RAF Mildenhall, which was a USAF base in 1991. You could pay in pounds or dollars for drinks and burgers on the day.