Editing Tony Ray-Jones

{{Short description|English photographer}}
{{EngvarB|date=August 2014}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2014}}
{{Infobox person
|name = Tony Ray-Jones
|image = 
|caption = 
|birth_date = {{Birth date|df=yes|1941|6|7}}
|birth_place = [[Wells, Somerset|Wells]], Somerset, England
|death_date = {{Death date and age|df=yes|1972|3|13|1941|6|7}}
|death_place = London
|notable_works = 
|nationality = British
|spouse = Anna Ray-Jones
|children = 
|occupation = Photographer
|style = 
|years_active = 
|parents = [[Raymond Ray-Jones]]
|known_for = ''Beachy Head boat trip, 1967''
}}
{{About|the English photographer born in 1941|the English photographer born in 1962|Anthony Jones (photographer)|the English photographer and husband of Princess Margaret|Antony Armstrong-Jones, 1st Earl of Snowdon}}

'''Tony Ray-Jones''' (7 June 1941 – 13 March 1972) was an English photographer.<ref>{{cite news|first1=Tim|last1=Adams|accessdate=2019-10-16|title=The big picture: Tony Ray-Jones goes in search of Englishness|url=https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2019/oct/13/big-picture-tony-ray-jones-windsor-horse-show|newspaper=The Guardian|date=13 October 2019|issn=0261-3077|via=www.theguardian.com}}</ref>

==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" />

==Legacy==
Ray-Jones' book about the English, unfinished at the time of his death, was published posthumously by Thames & Hudson in 1974 as ''A Day Off: An English Journal''.

Ray-Jones' archive has been housed at the [[National Science and Media Museum]] in Bradford since 1993. It consists of 700 photographic prints, 1,700 negative sheets, 2,700 contact sheets, 10,000 colour transparencies and Ray-Jones' notebooks and correspondence.<ref>{{cite book |title= Only in England: Photographs by Tony Ray-Jones|year= 2013 |publisher= [[National Science and Media Museum]]|location= Bradford|isbn= 978-1-900747-67-7|page= 9}}</ref>

==Publications==
* ''A Day Off: An English Journal.'' 
** London: Thames & Hudson, 1974. Hardback {{ISBN|978-0-500-54012-1}}.
** London: Thames & Hudson, 1975. Paperback {{ISBN|978-0-500-27034-9}}. Second edition.
** ''A Day Off: 120 Photographs.'' Waterbury, CT: New York Graphic Society, 1977. Paperback {{ISBN|0-8212-0708-3}}.
** ''Loisirs anglais: 120 photographies de Tony Ray Jones.'' Paris: Éditions du Chêne, 1974.<!-- no ISBN, it seems --> {{OCLC|26480887}}.
* ''Tony Ray-Jones.'' Edited by Richard Ehrlich. Manchester: Cornerhouse, 1990. {{ISBN|0-948797-36-3}} (paper); {{ISBN|0-948797-31-2}} (cloth). Also New York, NY: Aperture, 1991 {{ISBN|978-0-893814-84-7}}. Exhibition catalogue, includes biography and photographs.
* ''Tony Ray-Jones.'' By Russell Roberts. London: [[Chris Boot]], 2004. {{ISBN|0-9542813-9-X}}. Introduction by Russell Roberts; transcript of interview between [[Bill Jay]] and [[Martin Parr]].
* ''American Colour 1962–1965.'' London: Mack, 2013. {{ISBN|978-1-907-94655-4}}. Introduction by Liz Jobey.
* ''Only in England: Photographs by Tony Ray-Jones.'' Bradford: [[National Science and Media Museum]], 2013. {{ISBN|978-1-900747-67-7}}. {{OCLC|870756771}}. Exhibition catalogue. Introductions by Hannah Redler and Greg Hobson, essays by Martin Parr, David Alan Mellor and Ian Walker. The photographs are grouped into 'The English Unseen: Tony Ray-Jones Photographs Newly Selected by Martin Parr' and 'The English Seen: Classic Tony Ray-Jones Photographs'.
* ''Tony Ray-Jones.'' RRB/Martin Parr Foundation, 2019. With an introduction by [[Martin Parr]] and an essay by Liz Jobey.
**French-language edition. Paris: Maison CF, 2019.

==Exhibitions (incomplete)==
*''Current Report 2'', [[Museum of Modern Art]], New York, 1968. With others.<ref name="russell-roberts">{{cite book |last= Roberts |first= Russell | title= Tony Ray-Jones | year= 2004 | publisher = [[Chris Boot]] | isbn = 0-9542813-9-X | pages= 38–44}}</ref>
*''Vision and Expression'', [[George Eastman House]], Rochester, New York, 1969<ref name="russell-roberts" />
*''The English Seen'', part of ''The Spectrum'' series, [[Institute of Contemporary Arts]] (ICA), London, 1969. Solo show.<ref name="russell-roberts" />
*''Personal Views'', ICA, London, 1970. With others.<ref name="russell-roberts" />
*Rencontre Gallery, Paris, 1970<ref name="russell-roberts" />
*''Photographs of the English'', [[San Francisco Museum of Modern Art]], 1972<ref name="russell-roberts" />
*''Four Photographers in Contrast'' (with [[Dorothy Bohm]], [[Don McCullin]], and [[Enzo Ragazzini]]), ICA, London<ref>Peter Turner, ''History of Photography'' (Twickenham: Hamlyn, 1987; {{ISBN|978-0-600-50270-8}}), p.208.</ref>
*''Tony Ray-Jones''. Touring exhibition organised by the [[Photographers' Gallery]], 1990{{Citation needed|date=March 2014}}
*A 'father and son' exhibition for Raymond and Tony Ray-Jones, the Astley Cheetham Art Gallery, Ashton-under-Lyne, England, 1996{{Citation needed|date=March 2014}}
*''A Gentle Madness: The Photographs of Tony Ray-Jones (1941–72)'', [[National Science and Media Museum|National Museum of Photography, Film & Television]], Bradford, England, 2004;<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.scienceandmediamuseum.org.uk/what-was-on/gentle-madness-photographs-tony-ray-jones-1941-1972 |title=A Gentle Madness: The Photographs of Tony Ray-Jones (1941–1972)|author=<!--Not stated--> |date= |website=National Science and Media Museum |publisher=[[National Science and Media Museum]] |access-date=4 May 2020 |quote=}}</ref> and toured to [[Rencontres d'Arles]], 2004; Nederlands Fotomuseum, Rotterdam, 2005.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.britishphotography.org/artists/18429/biography/tony-ray-jones |title=Tony Ray-Jones Biography|author=<!--Not stated--> |date= |website=British Photography |publisher=The Hyman Collection |access-date=4 May 2020 |quote=}}</ref>
*Les Rencontres d'Arles festival, France, 2004{{Citation needed|date=March 2014}}
*The Guernsey Photography Festival, 2011{{Citation needed|date=March 2014}}
*''Mass Photography: Blackpool through the Camera'', [[Grundy Art Gallery]], Blackpool, England, 2011<ref>{{cite news|url = https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2011/jul/31/mass-photography-blackpool-review | date = 31 July 2011 | accessdate = 11 November 2013 | first= Sean | last= O'Hagan | work= [[The Guardian]] | title = Mass Photography: Blackpool Through the Camera – review | quote = This week, the Grundy Art Gallery in Blackpool is hosting a group photography show entitled Mass Photography: Blackpool Through the Camera. The exhibition's title, and much of its observational reportage, nods towards Spender and Trevelyan and their fly-on-the wall approach, but it adds up to nothing less than a potted social history of Blackpool though the lens of some of Britain's greatest documentary photographers, including Bert Hardy, Tony Ray-Jones, Homer Sykes, Chris Steele-Perkins and Martin Parr.}}</ref>
*''Only in England: Photographs by Tony Ray-Jones and Martin Parr'', [[Media Space]], [[Science Museum, London]], 19 September 2013 – 16 March 2014;<ref>{{cite web | url = https://www.scienceandmediamuseum.org.uk/what-was-on/only-england-photographs-tony-ray-jones-and-martin-parr | accessdate = 4 May 2020| publisher = [[National Science and Media Museum]] | title = Only in England: Photographs by Tony Ray-Jones and Martin Parr}}</ref> National Science and Media Museum, Bradford, 28 March – 29 June 2014; [[Walker Art Gallery]], Liverpool, 13 February – 7 June 2015.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.sciencemuseum.org.uk/visitmuseum/Plan_your_visit/exhibitions/only_in_england.aspx |title=Only in England: Photographs by Tony Ray-Jones and Martin Parr |publisher=Science Museum, London |date=21 September 2013 |accessdate=11 November 2013}}</ref> With material from the National Science and Media Museum's Ray-Jones archive curated by Martin Parr and Greg Hobson.

==Commissioned magazine work==
*"Passport to Cornwall", ''Sunday Times Magazine'', 25 September 1966 V.I. No. 29/30, 1966.
*"The Island", ''Cycle'' magazine, October 1967.
*"Britten Country", ''Opera News'', 11 February 1967.
*"Manplan 8", ''[[Architectural Review]],'' September 1970.
*"Happy Extremists", ''Sunday Times Magazine'', 18 October 1970.
*"The All American Love Nest", ''Sunday Times Magazine'', 28 March 1971.
*"The Air Conditioned Zion", ''Sunday Times Magazine'', 21 November 1971.
*"There's thirteen hundred and fifty-two guitar-pickers in Nashville...", ''Sunday Times Magazine'', 22 February 1972.
<ref name="russell-roberts" />

==Collections==
*Robert Elwall Photographs Collection, British Architectural Library, [[Royal Institute of British Architects]] (RIBA), London.<ref>{{cite web | url = http://www.architecture.com/RIBA/Contactus/NewsAndPress/News/RIBANews/News/2012/RIBAPhotographsCollectionrenamedinhonourofcuratorRobertElwall.aspx | accessdate = 9 June 2015 | publisher = [[Royal Institute of British Architects]] | title = RIBA Photographs Collection renamed in honour of curator Robert Elwall}}</ref>

==See also==
*[[Martin Parr]]

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
*The Golden Fleece: [http://the-golden-fleece.co.uk/wp/category/photographers/trj/ Tony Ray-Jones and his legacy] by Roy Hammans
*[https://www.theguardian.com/weekend/story/0,,1316549,00.html The English Seen] by Liz Jobey at ''The Guardian,'' 2004, on the occasion of the opening of "A Gentle Madness: The Photographs of Tony Ray-Jones (1941–72)" at the [[National Science and Media Museum|National Museum of Photography, Film & Television]], Bradford
*[https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/gallery/2011/may/30/tony-ray-jones-the-english Gallery of photographs at ''The Guardian'' in 2011]
*[http://lensculture.com/articles/tony-ray-jones-tony-ray-jones-1941-1972 Tony Ray-Jones 1941–1972] Book of black-and-white photographs 
*[http://lensculture.com/articles/tony-ray-jones-american-colour-1962-1965 Tony Ray-Jones American Colour 1962–1965] Selected colour photographs

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ray-Jones, Tony}}
[[Category:1941 births]]
[[Category:1972 deaths]]
[[Category:Alumni of the London College of Printing]]
[[Category:Photographers from Somerset]]
[[Category:People educated at Christ's Hospital]]
[[Category:People from the City of Chelmsford]]
[[Category:People from Tonbridge]]
[[Category:People from Wells, Somerset]]
[[Category:British street photographers]]
[[Category:Social documentary photographers]]
[[Category:British documentary photographers]]
[[Category:20th-century English photographers]]
[[Category:Deaths from leukemia in England]]