I went from being an underpaid ad man to quite a successful photographer in a very short time. Success breeds confidence and as soon as I got properly confident, I developed my own style. After that I never looked back. — Derek Ridgers Copy Share Image
I started out, in the mid-'70s, taking photographs of rock bands that I liked but not because I really wanted to photograph them. Initially,… — Derek Ridgers Copy Share
That's one of the wonderful things about the whole process of photography - eye contact can be very revealing. — Derek Ridgers Copy Share
The reason why so many of my photographs in the book were taken in stairwells and corridors was that that was the only bit… — Derek Ridgers Copy Share
When I gave up my office job and became a full-time professional photographer, my fortunes certainly improved markedly. We moved away from the council… — Derek Ridgers Copy Share
Anyway, the fetish crowd, compared to some of the people that hung out with the skinheads, was all pussycats. — Derek Ridgers Copy Share
My parents, though very loving, were not what one would ever describe as outgoing and therefore when I was young I was quite shy… — Derek Ridgers Copy Share
When I was starting, I was very much influenced by the straight up, eyes to camera style of August Sander. He is really the… — Derek Ridgers Copy Share
Once I became a photographer, it stopped me being scared or intimidated by gangs of young men of whatever stripe. Initially, I could hide… — Derek Ridgers Copy Share
The big downside to the global village that the Internet has created is that nothing has time to grow out of the public gaze… — Derek Ridgers Copy Share
Nowadays everyone has a camera and the Internet means everything is instantly accessible. Unlike some photographers, I don't see this as a problem. If… — Derek Ridgers Copy Share
Things are very different now because a lot of those little clubs don't exist. In Soho for instance, where nearly half my nightlife photographs… — Derek Ridgers Copy Share
Many nightclubs from this era were very loud and very dark. Plus some of the best ones were incredibly crowded. To begin with, I… — Derek Ridgers Copy Share
I went from being an underpaid ad man to quite a successful photographer in a very short time. Success breeds confidence and as soon… — Derek Ridgers Copy Share
It's more about subtracting every single buck from the tourists that still flock there. Gentrification and the need for developers to maximize their profits… — Derek Ridgers Copy Share
Only a very small proportion of us take those excesses with us into later life. In the age before everyone had a camera, it… — Derek Ridgers Copy Share
