PERRY OGDEN: Master of the Lens. Part One of Three.

Title Image: SHOWstudio- Café Conversation with Simone Rocha

It is a pleasure to sit down to write this piece. I love photography. It fascinates me how the ‘Masters of the Lens’ can convey so much. I just wish that I could be a tenth as good.

Perry Ogden truly qualifies my phrase, ‘Masters of the Lens’.

I have not seen Perry for … too many years to admit to. The last I saw of him, he was about to follow his dream in New York to be a Photographer.

Perry did not just become a Photographer, he became an artist, stretching himself into movies and documentaries.

Image: Perry Ogden

Of course, Perry is best known for his stills. There is not a magazine worth knowing about which has not featured his work on the cover.

Along the way, he managed to fit in his first film Pavee Lackeen (The Traveller Girl) (2005) which won numerous awards around the world including the Satyajit Ray award for Best First Film at the London Film Festival and the Irish Film & Television Award for Best Film.

Born in Shropshire, England, Perry was raised in London where his mother, who worked on the women’s section of The Times, influenced his future in media. Sadly his mother died when he was aged just 11. Despite his love of London street culture, he went off to school at Eton.

Lipstick Magazine with Perry’s (then) girlfriend on the cover.
Image: Perry Ogden from IdeaNow.online

During his time at Eton, Perry discovered cameras and dark rooms, a concept lost on those who have never been taught about a chromatograph! Inspired by the whole media explosion of the time, he produced a school magazine, “Lipstick”.

This was heavily influenced by David Bailey’s “Ritz” magazine and The Interview amongst others. As cool as you like, and he was very cool, he found himself in New York interviewing and photographing Andy Warhol and Diana Vreeland.

David Bailey, Andy Warhol, Diana Rigg and Joe Strummer.
All images: Perry Ogden

He continued on in London and interviewed David Bailey (the photographer of the era), Diana Rigg (actress) and Joe Strummer (lead singer of The Clash).

Perry’s career has found him working with iconic brands such as Ralph Lauren, Chloe and Calvin Klein.

Image: Perry Ogden, The Pony Kids, 1999

He has also found time for amazing projects such as ‘The Pony Kids’, a study of children and their ponies in 90s Dublin. It was like a gang or even tribal situation which the authorities eventually squashed through animal welfare regulations. Ireland’s President, Mary Robinson opened the exhibition which was published in 1999.

Image: Perry Ogden, 7 Reece Mews, Francis Bacon’s Studio, 2001

Perry’s photographs of Francis Bacon’s studio, 7 Reece Mews, were published by Thames and Hudson in 2001 and exhibited widely at galleries and museums including The Hugh Lane in Dublin, the ‘Fondation Beyeler’ in Basle and the Fondation van Gogh in Arles.

Image: Perry Ogden for Moncler Enfant, 2017

More recent exhibitions include: ‘Inspiration’ at the Sebastian Guinness Gallery, Dublin, 2010 and ‘Twenty’ at the Irish Museum of Modern Art in 2011.

Perry’s recent works show a very natural and realistic side of life. His work with children in particular shows a humorous and impish sense of humanity. I particularly love this one which I have cropped as the expression is simply ‘naughty boy, lovely nature’.

Image: Perry Ogden for Moncler Enfant, 2017

Perry has called Dublin, Ireland , home for many years. He lives above ‘the shop’, his studio. That concept of home is, more often than not, a life of boarding passes and different time zones. Such it is to be in demand!

Perry Ogden, ‘Master of the Lens’.

 

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