‘Thats the way you do it’!
It is one of the photographs from a career that spans the golden age of photojournalism. The catalogue of work by work of Roger Bamber is undoubtably among the best produced by a newspaper photographer .
Roger landed his first Fleet Street job on the day he arrived in London with his portfolio in 1965. In those days the Daily Mail was a broadsheet and they signed him up to cover news and features. He was 20 years old.
Four years later in 1969 he was poached to join the launch team of Rupert Murdoch’s new idea.- the tabloid “Sun” newspaper. He stayed for 19 years, covering war, rock and pop, hard news, and features all over the world.
The tabloid formula became too constricting. In 1988 he left to go freelance and worked for The Observer, The Independent and a host of magazines. But most importantly he became a regular contributor to The Guardian which showcased his work so regularly that he was awarded an honorary Master of Arts degree from the The University of Brighton “for his distinguished photojournalism and the wealth of images of Brighton inspired by the city”.
His work has brought him a clutch of accolades, including twice Photographer of the Year (once for a Sun portfolio and once for a set of Guardian pictures – a double thus far not repeated by anyone else…), twice News Photographer of the Year but he has forgotten how many times Features Photographer of the Year and Arts Photographer of the Year but knows it is more than 11.
The unifying element in all his work is his distinctive graphic style, wry humour and boundless originality,
Among the photos is a picture described by former Sun and News of the World picture editor and photographer Kenny Lennox as the picture of the millennium, Roger Bamber’s Punch and Judy professor, Sergeant Stone on Brighton Beach.
Sergeant Stone was setting up in readiness for the school holidays when four-year-old Jermaine Briffa wandered along the deserted beach with his father and provided puppeteer with a small but enthusiastic audience.
The child was so enthralled with his one-to-one with Mr Punch, that he totally ignored Roger bearing down on him clicking away, telling Sgt. Stone to keep the banter going. Michael Stone’s tent and puppets became part of the display at Brighton Museum and Art Gallery. The photograph was part of a portfolio that won Ilford Press Photographer of the Year in 1992 and was also used as a poster for Ilford film, with the slogan “That’s the Way to Do It”.
more of the fantastic work of Roger can be seen here https://tinyurl.com/3zw83he4
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