Editing Tony Ray-Jones (section)

==Life==
Born Holroyd Anthony Ray-Jones in [[Wells, Somerset]], he was the youngest son of [[Raymond Ray-Jones]] (1886–1942), a painter and [[Etching|etcher]] who died when Tony was only eight months old,<ref name="david-clark">{{cite web|url = http://www.amateurphotographer.co.uk/how-to/icons-of-photography/534741/tony-ray-jones-iconic-photographer | accessdate = 16 March 2014 | last = Clark | first = David | publisher = [[Amateur Photographer]] | title = Tony Ray-Jones – Iconic Photographer}}</ref> and Effie Irene Pearce, who would work as a physiotherapist. After his father's death, Tony's mother took the family to [[Tonbridge]] in Kent, to [[Little Baddow]] (near [[Chelmsford]], Essex), and then to Hampstead in London. He was educated at [[Christ's Hospital]] (Horsham), which he hated.<ref name="richard-ehrlich">Richard Ehrlich, "Introduction", ''Tony Ray-Jones'' (Manchester: Cornerhouse, 1990)</ref>{{rp|7}}

[[File:Crufts Dog Show 1968 (3084034375).jpg|thumb|'Crufts Dog Show 1968' by Ray-Jones]]

Tony Ray-Jones studied at the [[London College of Printing|London School of Printing]], where he concentrated on graphic design. In the early 1960s he obtained a scholarship that enabled him to join [[Yale University School of Art]]<ref name="sean-ohagan-science-museum">{{cite news|url = https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2013/sep/20/tony-ray-jones-martin-parr-exhibition | date = 20 September 2013 | accessdate = 28 March 2014 | first = Sean | last = O'Hagan | authorlink = Sean O'Hagan (journalist) | website = [[The Guardian]] | title = Tony Ray-Jones and Martin Parr: English rituals of the 60s}}</ref> on the strength of photographs he had taken in north Africa from a taxi window.<ref name="richard-ehrlich" />{{rp|8}} Although only 19 on his arrival at Yale, Ray-Jones' talent was obvious, and in 1963 he was given assignments for the magazines ''[[Car and Driver]]'' and ''[[Saturday Evening Post]].''<ref name="richard-ehrlich" />{{rp|9}}

Eager to use photography for more creative purposes, Ray-Jones went to the Design Lab held by the [[art director]] [[Alexey Brodovitch]]<ref name="david-clark" /> in the Manhattan studio of [[Richard Avedon]];<ref name="sean-ohagan-science-museum" /> Brodovitch's gruff manner and high standards won respect and hard work from Ray-Jones and others.<ref name="richard-ehrlich" />{{rp|10}} Ray-Jones also got to know a number of New York "street photographers", such as [[Joel Meyerowitz]], a fellow Brodovich student at the time.
Ray-Jones graduated from Yale in 1964 and photographed the United States energetically until his departure for Britain in late 1965. From then until 1970, he lived and worked at 102 [[Gloucester Place]], [[Marylebone]]; this is now marked by a memorial plaque.<ref>City of Westminster green plaques {{cite web |url=http://www.westminster.gov.uk/services/leisureandculture/greenplaques/ |title=Westminster City Council – Green Plaques Scheme |accessdate=2011-07-07 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20120716210428/http://www.westminster.gov.uk/services/leisureandculture/greenplaques/ |archivedate=16 July 2012 |df=dmy-all }}</ref>

On his return to Britain, he was shocked at the lack of interest in non-commercial photography, let alone in the publication of books presenting it. He was also unsure of what subject he might pursue, but the idea of a survey of the English at leisure gradually took shape. He began work on that, at the same time doing portrait and other work for the ''[[Radio Times]]'', Sunday newspapers, and magazines.<ref name="richard-ehrlich" />{{rp|12–13}}

In the October 1968 issue of ''[[Creative Camera]]'' magazine, he described what he was trying to achieve:

<blockquote>My 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 their traditions and partly through the nature of their environment and their mentality. For me there is something very special about the English 'way of life' and I wish to record it from my particular point of view before it becomes Americanised and disappears.</blockquote>

His photographs of festivals and leisure activities are full of a somewhat [[surreal humour]], and show the influence of photographers such as [[Henri Cartier-Bresson]], [[Garry Winogrand]], as well as his own collection of the work of [[John Benjamin Stone|Sir Benjamin Stone]].

In 1969, ''[[Architectural Review]]'' magazine commissioned photojournalists for eight themed issues called ''Manplan'', examining the contemporary state of architecture and town planning. The photos were published between September 1969 and September 1970. Ray-Jones's work documenting people living on housing estates in Britain was published in an issue on housing in 1970,<ref>{{cite web | url = http://www.ribablogs.com/?p=8478 | date = 30 September 2013 | accessdate = 9 June 2015 | first = Wilson | last = Yao | publisher = [[Royal Institute of British Architects]] | title = Focus on: Tony Ray-Jones}}</ref> and were included in his second unsuccessful submission to join [[Magnum Photos]].<ref>{{cite web | url = http://www.architecture.com/Explore/Revealingthecollections/ReportonRoadEstate1970.aspx | date = 30 April 2015 | accessdate = 9 June 2015 | first = Valeria | last = Carullo | publisher = [[Royal Institute of British Architects]] | title = Photograph of children at Reporton Road estate, Hammersmith, 1970}}</ref>

Critic [[Sean O'Hagan (journalist)|Sean O'Hagan]] wrote in ''The Guardian'':

<blockquote>Ray-Jones was in many ways a social anthropologist with a camera, but it is his eye for detail and often brilliantly complex compositions that sets him apart. His images often appear cluttered ... On closer inspection, though, what we are glimpsing is several small narratives contained in the bigger defining one."<ref name="sean-ohagan-science-museum" /></blockquote>

Ray-Jones was both sociable and abrasive, introducing himself to [[Bill Jay]], the editor of ''Creative Camera'', by saying "Your magazine's shit, but I can see you're trying. You just don't know enough, so I am here to help you".<ref name="david-clark" /><ref name="sean-ohagan-science-museum" /> However, he impressed Jay (who later acknowledged Ray-Jones as one of the greatest influences on his view of photography), and also worked hard and successfully to have exhibitions of his works.<ref name="richard-ehrlich" />{{rp|14–15}}

He returned to the United States in January 1971 to work as a teacher at the [[San Francisco Art Institute]]<ref name="david-clark" /> – one of the few ways in which he could legally stay in the US. He disliked teaching, finding the students self-centred and lazy, but he was soon able to busy himself working on assignments for both the British and the US press.

Ray-Jones's non-assignment photographs were first published in the October 1968 issue of ''Creative Camera''.

In late 1971, Ray-Jones started to suffer from exhaustion. Early the next year [[leukaemia]] was diagnosed, and he started chemotherapy. Medical treatment in the US was too expensive, so Ray-Jones flew to London on 10 March and immediately entered the [[The Royal Marsden NHS Foundation Trust|Royal Marsden Hospital]]; he died there on 13 March.

Sean O'Hagan said "in his short life he helped create a way of seeing that has shaped several generations of British photography."<ref name="sean-ohagan-science-museum" />