In the second of a new series of interviews with creatives I admire and respect, I caught up with British Social Documentary and Portrait Photographer Richard Davis.
Richard Davis captures stories. As a documentary photographer, his camera lens is a window into the lives of everyday people, the rhythm of the streets, and the quiet dramas that unfold in the overlooked corners of our world.
From Spaghetti Junction to the Hulme Crescents, iconic portraits of cultural icons, to documenting the passion of football fans, Richard's work offers a poignant and powerful commentary on the evolution of our urban and cultural surroundings.
In this interview, we explore Richard’s creative journey and process over his 40 year career, taking in his inspirations and some of the stories behind his most captivating images. He also offers an insight on what makes a good photo and how he navigates the ever-shifting landscape of social media.
What inspired you to first pick up a camera and really pursue photography as a creative practice?
I remember at school really wanting to pick art as a subject, but was turned down and told you'd be better at woodwork! That's never left me that rejection, to be fair I couldn't draw, I was hopeless, but as I got older cultural matters became more and more important to me, by that I mean music, fashion, film, art. I knew early on I was never going to be a scientist or mathematician. As soon as I left school at 16 I enrolled at night school and studied darkroom photography and then fell in love with the creative and magical process of film photography.
I would also say Pennie Smith’s London Calling album sleeve for the Clash made a big impression on me. I later went on to see more of Pennie Smith's photos of the Clash whilst on tour in America, they were brilliant and made me realise how important photography was in creating powerful and unique images. I guess the Kevin Cummins Photo of Joy Division on a bleak snowy bridge in Hulme had the same effect on me.
How have your surroundings influenced your work?
I guess what photography gives us is the ability to document our surroundings, and to a large extent our everyday lives. I grew up in Birmingham during the 70s and 80s, a time when it was famous for its concrete modernist 60s design. Without doubt that architecture influenced my love of life in a bustling city and later in Manchester too with its Victorian redbrick architecture, canals, railway arches and cobbled streets.
"One thing photography taught me to do well is to observe and appreciate my everyday surroundings, in a way to romanticise them"
If you put into the mix my love of portraiture and photographing friends who I hung around with in both cities, it seemed a good combination to me. One thing photography taught me to do well is to observe and appreciate my everyday surroundings, in a way to romanticise them. I've often thought the biggest influence on me isn't what other photographers were up to but actually watching a lot of films and then trying to replicate how they framed scenes.
How has your creative process developed and evolved over the years, and what makes a good photo?
I've been taking photos for over 40 years which means I've seen a huge amount of change in the process over that time, some good and some bad. It's a lot easier to do photography now with the invention of digital and how working on a computer has replaced working in a darkroom, it's also far cheaper, quicker and more practical yet somehow we have definitely lost authenticity. Digital has made us lazy regarding photography and I'm including myself in that.
The photographer Robert Capa always had a good quote "If your pictures aren't good enough, you're not close enough".
"For me my best photo is just around the corner, but I can never quite reach it"
There are many things that make a good photo, Capa was right though, you have to be brave and be where the action is. Does your photo tell a story, does it have attitude, does it have a feel, movement, humour, does it capture a moment? If it was easy to always capture a good photo I don’t think photography would be half as much fun. For me my best photo is just around the corner, but I can never quite reach it.
You’ve covered a lot of ground in your career, from music, to fashion, football, documentary, architecture - looking back what projects really stand out for you?
Those are my big subjects, I never like putting labels onto my style of photography but Documentary and Portraiture would be closest. I guess it's all about culture for me with a bit of added architecture. I know myself and if I'm not interested in something I won't be in a position to take a good photo, I have to be passionate about whatever the subject is.
Certainly in the 1980s I loved doing music photography, gigs, portraits, band sessions. I used to have so much access during that time, front and backstage. I was usually the only photographer around, never seemed to be any issues or restrictions, whereas I look at it in the present day and there seems no fun or enjoyment in it, photographers granted first three songs from a pit in front of stage, all getting in each other's way and ending up with the same photos. Awful.
I really enjoyed the "Football With Attitude" project in 1991, little did I know at the time it would become a fascinating document of where English football was just prior to the huge changes that were to come a year later with the introduction of the Premier League and all seater stadiums.
However, I've always enjoyed photographing under Spaghetti Junction over the years, so i'm going to say that is my favourite ongoing project.
You’ve had a series of Cafe Royal books published, what’s that process been like and are you planning to release any more?
Since 2019 I've had seven Cafe Royal books published which is a huge honour. The first one was based on the Hulme housing estate in Manchester where I lived in the late 80s/early 90s and it kind of snowballed from there. It’s so nice to have a lot of my photography printed from when I was in my early 20s. I never knew at the time that the photos I was taking then would receive such interest and be published alongside the best of UK Photography with the likes of Chris Killip, David Hurn, Daniel Meadows, Janine Wiedel & Syd Shelton.
Recently I've decided to archive all my old negatives and put them into some kind of order, this has also meant I’ve printed a lot more from the past. Back in the 1980s I never had the opportunity or time to print everything. So, I'm hopeful of a few more Cafe Royal Book publications in the next year or so, still some really good stuff to come I reckon and definitely another Birmingham early years one.
You took those iconic images of The Stone Roses outside Wolverhampton Magistrates Court in 1990, what do you remember about the day?
Looking back I just feel so lucky I got the opportunity, as there was so much going on around the band at that time. I got a phone call the day before from Sounds Music paper, their usual photographer couldn't make it so they asked me if I would be interested. A case of right place, right time, as it turned into such a huge thing. Obviously coming from the Midlands and supporting Wolves I definitely wanted to do it, so I got the train down from Manchester, luckily I got there early as the Stone Roses were in and out of court within minutes (the case was adjourned for a later date).
"They were great to photograph and I got a real kick out of being present at such an important part of the band's story"
They spent longer on the steps of the Court building posing for the few photographers and handful of fans who had turned up than inside. Of course the band were dressed to kill, with a great look and a real defiant attitude. They were great to photograph and I got a real kick out of being present at such an important part of the band's story. Though in hindsight the case really did halt their momentum and delayed their second album by years.
How big a role does social media play as a platform to present your work? and does it influence your thinking in any way as a photographer?
I have seen so many changes over the years. The invention of the mobile phone and internet/social media completely changed how most people approach photography overnight. Very similar to the music industry when CDs came along to compete with traditional vinyl. My personal view is digital will never replace film photography and likewise CDs never replaced vinyl. I guess all forms have advantages and disadvantages but what's good is we have a choice in 2025!
There's no doubt about it though, the success I've had in the last few years has been a result of social media and an increased exposure for my photography, not just in the UK but across the world, whether that was photos I'd taken in recent times or more likely photos I'd taken during the 1980s/90s.
"A lot of people are interested in the past as our everyday surroundings change constantly and nothing ever stays the same"
Across social media there does seem a nostalgia for the past and I guess a lot of my photography falls into that, whether it's all the photos I took living on the condemned brutalist council estate in Hulme Manchester, which obviously no longer exists, all bulldozed, or as the first person to photograph Nirvana live in the UK at Manchester Polytechnic in October 1989. A lot of people are interested in the past as our everyday surroundings change constantly and nothing ever stays the same, music, football, fashion, buildings, shops, clothes, hairstyles…
Though I also think you have to use social media carefully as it can really eat into your time and I've noticed that you have to be quite disciplined otherwise it takes away your creative time as a photographer. It's so important to me that I'm still hungry, and that my ultimate photo is still out there somewhere and that requires life away from the computer screen.
What’s next for you? And if any, what creative ambitions do you have left that are unfulfilled?
Well I'm 60 this year and I've no intention of stopping, if anything my love of photography is as passionate as ever. In the last few years I've done several talks on photography which I've really enjoyed and that is an area I really want to keep exploring.
All the various projects I have on the go will continue - documenting Spaghetti Junction in Birmingham, Dungeness in Kent, the Mancunian Way in Manchester, the Park Hill estate in Sheffield and hopefully i'm working on two books to come, one is on Birmingham in the 1980s and the other documenting the Manchester Comedy Scene from the late 1980s/early 1990s hopefully with writer Henry Normal. That will include the amazing few years we had with the rise of Steve Coogan, Caroline Aherne, John Thomson, Henry Normal, Lemn Sissay, Jon Ronson, Dave Gorman, Johnny Dangerously & Frank Sidebottom. Lot's to be getting on with!
A big thanks to Richard for taking part in the first Industria Meets of 2025, an insightful and inspiring account of his 40 year career as a photographer.
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