Masters of Street Photography // This is Tony Ray-Jones

Learn about the master of photography who died at the age of 30, but made a huge impact on photography none-the-less.

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This episode is a case study on Tony Ray-Jones a master street photographer who I stumbled across in my previous POV street photography video. His street photography work is absolutely incredible. He's inspired many great photographers including Martin Parr.

Tony Ray-Jones grew up in England in the '40s and 50's. After submitting to Yale University a portfolio of images that he took while travelling in Africa, he received a scholarship to their school of arts to study design.

Tony had met Joel Meyerowitz in a film lab. Joel described the both of them as 'long-haired, scruffy dudes', both were looking through their negatives and mumbling to themselves. He invited Tony back to his house and look at the images on his projector and they became friends thereafter.

Tony had spent 4 years (1962 - 1965) in New York. He had worked with Alexy Brodovitch, a prominent Harper's Bazaar art director, who also held a series of lectures called the 'Design Lab' which was held in Richard Avedon's studio and joined by the likes of Irving Penn, Diane Arbus, and Garry Winogrand. His book, which was published post-humously in 2013, is a collection of his work from NY which he called his 'isolated sketches'.

After moving back to England, and armed with his Leica, he began work on England by the Sea, which unfortunately was never published, but made way for the book Tony Ray-Jones which was published after his death by the Martin Parr Foundation and RBB Photobooks. Travelling around England in his VW van, were his "aim [was] to communicate something of the spirit and mentality of the English, their habits and their way of life, the ironies that exist in the way they do things...there is something very special and rather humorous about 'the English way of life'".

Tony had died at the age of 30 from Leukemia. He left behind a great body of work. One can only imagine what work he could have created had he lived beyond those years.

I really enjoyed researching and studying Tony's work. I hope you are as inspired by him as much as I am. In my eye's he is a true master of street photography.

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Video where I first discovered Tony Ray-Jones
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qXsxFwB1_Nc&t=27s

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Link's to see more Joel Meyerowitz
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xumo7_JUeMo&t=215s
https://www.joelmeyerowitz.com/

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Thanks to these people for bringing Tony's work to life
https://www.martinparrfoundation.org/
https://www.rrbphotobooks.com/
https://mackbooks.co.uk/

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Music from:
https://www.epidemicsound.com/

Видео Masters of Street Photography // This is Tony Ray-Jones канала Nick Martinelli