Stephen Markeson
Fleet Street Exposures



Fleet Street Exposures by Stephen Markeson

Foreword by Charles Wilson
Editor of The Times 1985-1990

The career of a Fleet Street photographer can be made or stalled in an instant…the millisecond it takes for the camera shutter to capture an iconic image that speaks a thousand words or just yet another frame destined to be discarded on the darkroom floor.
A Fleet Street reporter’s job is to find out what’s happened and then build a picture for readers by quoting eye witnesses, giving colourful description and detail…answering the questions who? what? where? why? when? and how? The photographer has either got ‘the picture’…or they haven’t.
As this wonderful diary shows Stephen Markeson demonstrates both areas of expertise and has produced an elegant, fascinating and surprising record of his career in pictures.
The great 20th century American photographer, Ansel Adams, once said ‘There are always two people in every picture: the photographer and the viewer.’
I think he meant that, like beauty, many images may only find their greatness in the eye of the beholder.
I suspect that while many of the images in this impressive book will move, intrigue, fascinate, amuse and startle, many will also remain with most of us…as often as we choose to dip into the world of such an accomplished photojournalist.
Stephen allows the photographs to speak for themselves but brilliantly lets us in on some of the circumstances, opportunities and fortune that framed the story behind the story.
For most of my Fleet Street life, pictures could only be printed in black and white and there is something more compelling, artistic and engaging in monochrome. And boy did this book bring back memories.
Hardback: 168 pages
Size: 270 x 270 mm
Price: £30.00
ISBN: 978-1-914424-16-8