Uncovering more of Alamy’s diverse archive collection, I’m thrilled that up next in our Archive spotlight series is UK-based agency Pictorial Press. With a vast collection of photographs and illustrations, Pictorial Press’s collection goes beyond just film and TV images – it also includes portraits of important historical figures and celebrities.
I had the pleasure of speaking to the collection’s owner Tony Gale who has been actively expanding the collection and its representation for more than half a century. His father Lewis Gale was the previous owner of the collection, before Tony took over in the 1970s. Tony tells me that ‘the company has always grown organically, using staff photographers and commissioning freelancers to grow the collection into what is it today.’ There are also photography contributions from Lewis and Tony themselves, which we delve deeper into later.
Pictorial Press has always been connected to the film industry as Tony explains about the origins of the agency: ‘I hope to find out from Companies House the names of the original founders, but my understanding has always been that they were three Hollywood film executives. It was established in 1938 as Hollywood Photos but shortly after this was changed to Pictorial Press Ltd with an office in St. James Street, London. One of the three founders was Lee Garmes (a cinematographer during the early 20th Century).’
D.W.GRIFFITH at left about 1945 with fellow US film producers King Vidor centre and Lee Garmes who founded Pictorial Press in 1938
Early Days
Going back to where it all started Tony tells me ‘In 1955 the then owner, unsure who this was, attended a Billy Graham revival meeting at Wembley Stadium and pledged to sell the business. Presumably to give some of the proceeds to Graham’s organisation. At the time my father was using Pictorial Press to process his films and decided to buy the agency.’
Tony’s father was an avid sports photographer at the time, and he was ‘specialising in greyhound racing when that was a major leisure activity. Before the days of auto-cameras few people could match his skill at capturing dogs going over jumps at 40 mph’ Tony explains enthusiastically.
Not only did Lewis Gale capture greyhound racing during the 1960s, in his earlier work he captured important political events and politicians such as the Tehran Conference in 1943 and Winston Churchill on multiple occasions during his time as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. As we can see from the pictures below.
Ready, Steady, Go!: A new market in UK and American Pop and Rock music
Known as the decade of the British Invasion in pop and rock music, the 1960s was also a pivotal period for Tony as he had recently joined Pictorial Press during this time. The headquarters were in London, where all the action was happening. Not only did this have an advantage due to its location being in Fleet Street, Tony explains that ‘it was also only a short walk to the studios of ATV where the pop show Ready, Steady, Go! started. Suddenly there was a whole new market worldwide for UK and later American pop acts and I spent the next few years concentrating on that. Being much the same age as the performers I found it easy to arrange shoots away from the studios as well as trawling the dressing rooms.’
For those who are too young to remember – Ready, Steady, Go! was a British Rock and Pop music television programme broadcasted every Friday night in the UK until 1966, and showcased emerging talent to a whole new audience. It featured iconic musicians and bands such as The Beatles and Jimi Hendrix.
Pictorial Press collection has a wealth of documentation from the TV programme and the artists that graced the stage during the 1960s; The Who, Tina Turner and Cilla Black to name just a few.
Upon searching the Pictorial Press Archive Tony informs me he came across an old image of himself behind the icon Jimi Hendrix, ‘It was taken at the London premiere of How I Won the War in October 1967. I am looking very studious toting a Rolleiflx, a Hasselblad and a Metz flash gun. The guy at right holding a camera was one of our staffers. At events like this one of us would shoot colour and the other black and white. The actual picture was taken by a freelancer for whom we were the agent’ Tony explains excitedly.
Jimi Hendrix did appear on Ready, Steady, Go! the year prior to the London premiere however as like many of the recordings from the TV programme, it has been lost over time.
JIMI HENDRIX (1942-1970) American rock musician at the London premiere of How I Won the War in October 1967
Meanwhile in America there was a similar Pop and Dance movement. As well as images from UK mainstream music TV programmes, the Pictorial Press collection includes a little-known archive of popular American music TV programmes such as American Bandstand, which started in the 1950s and recently finished in the early 2000.
Pictorial Press Highlights
As Tony mentioned previously during the 1960s it was an easier time for him to organise photoshoots, and he was able to relate to the musicians he was capturing due to being around the same age the musicians themselves. So, it was only fitting that Tony’s favourite image or series of images within his collection are photos that were taken by himself of Barry Gibb from the Bee Gees, taken at the singer’s home in Eaton Square London in 1968. Unlike what photographers could only dream of capturing today, the series of photographs captures an insight into an intimate (and sometimes amusing) moment with Barry Gibb, that many celebrities wouldn’t offer today.
Tony goes on to explain, ‘many artists were happy to arrange their own PR – sharing their phone numbers with you’ making it easier to have that authentic moment with musicians. However, due to a rise of ‘stardom’ and the popularity of ‘celebrities’ later in the 1960s and 1970s, Tony states: ‘by late 1960 PR was rapidly taking over and arranging a shoot was becoming subject to all sorts of restrictions and we concentrated more on a much wider range of personalities’.
Pictorial Press sets itself apart from other archive agencies with Tony stating that ‘the collection’s historical importance lies in the massive coverage of pop acts and associated fashion styles in the 60s, in particular home shoots of people such as Sandie Shaw, Lulu, Marianne Faithfull, and Manfred Mann’.
Digitisation and Research
Like many other archives, Tony mentions they have a backlog of images that need to be digitised, with Tony saying that ‘there is still a massive number of images to digitalise since as mentioned we have been taking our own and acquiring other collections since the 1940s.’ However, to Tony it’s not about digitising all Pictorial Press’s images, it’s more about wanting ‘all our captions to be as accurate and informative as possible, and this takes time to research.’ This dedication to the importance of historical accuracy can be seen in their images with accurate, names, locations and dates being supplied in every caption, wherever possible.
With regards to what Tony uploads to Alamy ‘there is no firm policy on what to upload since Alamy appeals to such a huge variety of clients.’ Meaning that Pictorial Press’s collection is full of images waiting to be found and have their chance to be in the limelight once again. If you can’t find the image you’re looking for, Tony is always open to looking within his physical archive to see if can supply the right content for you and other customers, so don’t hesitate to reach out to our customer support and sales team.
You can discover all Pictorial Press images here and remember their collection has a vast amount of imagery ready for editorial licenses and you never know the hidden gems you might find.
Make sure to check back in a few months to see which archive collection will be taking us on an adventure to the past.
