What a wash-out summer! What a bummer! Ha ha! With lots of rainy days so far this August I’ve been delving in ‘The Archive’ a lot, bringing some of my old photographs out into the cold light of day! This one was taken 12 years ago (-this eager young lad probably has quite a different haircut now-) but this image perfectly sums up summer for me!

It was taken August 1998 (a hot summer!) in Salford and part of an exhibition the following year. I had just spent 4 years following graffiti artists into all sorts of illegality & abandoned public spaces; Contributed to two B&W photography exhibitions which both featured notorious Hulme housing estate as a grim backdrop, catalyst & subject matter; I wanted my next project to be something different entirely.

At the time, though, I was fresh out of ideas. I hadn't yet got into live-music events: And I hadn’t yet had any newspaper or magazine work. But I had had enough of dark underpasses, burnt-out cars & derelict characters! Occasional ice-cream vendor (& out-of-work-actor) Steve Hillman suggested I tag along on his round in Salford. He often came by in the summer evenings to share a smoke, charm the neighbourhood kids, make a few extra pennies and take my young son for a spin. He said that every face that came to his window had a story to tell.

With this in mind, Pentax ME-Super + a clutch of B&W film, we set out together one August  afternoon on his usual round of housing & industrial estates, stopping & starting throughout  Salford. Steve would laugh & tell his customers they might see themselves in the Evening News!
Every time we stopped I would try to take a good photograph! It was harder than you’d think, working in that confined, made-for-one space. It was difficult finding new camera angles & avoiding repetition. It was incredibly great fun though! No-one ever comes to an ice cream van in a bad mood! They only bring their happy faces. Everyone was enjoying the weather, school holidays, or were looking forward to their treat. By the end of our day I felt I had enough images for an article or exhibition

In 1999 I became Artist in Residence (NWAB funded) at Bolton Institute. During my time there I put together an edit of my favourite images & printed them all up on proper fibre-based photographic paper. The resulting exhibition, a 'Bakers’ dozen' of (13) photographs Ice Cream You Scream had its' opening night at Nowhere Bar (Knotts Mill) 1st June 1999. Walls provided hundreds of free Magnum ice creams to give away! Niiiiice!!

Click Here For The Full I Scream Ice Cream Exhibition.