P H OTO r e s p o n s e
P E T E R H E AT O N a n d T O N Y B A K E R
P H OTO r e s p o n s e
ENGLAND KEEP OUT peter heaton ACCIDENTAL CRUCIFIX (RED) tony baker
THE THIN LINE BETWEEN ART & PORNOGRAPHY tony baker FIG LEAF MAN peter heaton
GLAMOUR AND MARITAL AIDS peter heaton MENSWEAR tony baker
TARTAN CHAIRS tony baker THE MIRROR CRACKED peter heaton
THE ONES THAT DIDN’T GET AWAY peter heaton FANTASY FOOTBALL / DESTINATIONS tony baker
INSIDE OUT tony baker OUTSIDE IN peter heaton
TIGER peter heaton HEAD tony baker
DOG tony baker BOOT peter heaton SHOES tony baker
OPTIMISTIC peter heaton MOBILE BOTHY tony baker
I COME QUICKLY tony baker REDUCED NUN peter heaton
C AN’T READ peter heaton BEACH CLOSED tony baker
REALITY tony baker NOT JUST A PLACE TO LIVE peter heaton
DEAD MOLES peter heaton DEAD FROG tony baker
PRINCE WILLIAM’S BREAST tony baker ROCK QUEEN peter heaton
IT’S A ‘NO’ FROM HARROGATE peter heaton WINDOW DISPLAY #1 tony baker
TOO MANY CROSSES TO BEAR tony baker THIS WAY peter heaton
WELL ROTTED HORSE peter heaton THE FLYING EQUESTRIAN tony baker
TWIN BEDS tony baker THE SPECIALIST peter heaton
PINK GREEN peter heaton PRAYING HANDS tony baker
TAPED HEAD tony baker RESTING peter heaton
UNSTUCK peter heaton UNSTUCK TOO tony baker
THE KEY TO RELIGION tony baker A TIME TO REFLECT peter heaton
ATTENTION ALL PASSENGERS peter heaton FIRST AID tony baker
ESSEN SHIT tony baker THE EYES HAVE IT peter heaton
FROG EYES peter heaton CORTINA DOGS tony baker
WAVY ROAD MARKS tony baker SOME RAINBOW OVER YELLOW ROAD MARKINGS peter heaton
EMPTY DOG peter heaton DOG AND BONE tony baker
TROTTERS tony baker A WAITING STOCK peter heaton
HULK peter heaton ELVIS : LOVE GODESS tony baker
POOL SKY tony baker RESERVOIR REFLECTION peter heaton
RATS & RABBITS peter heaton CLASH FARM tony baker
THREE PAIRS OF TROUSERS & A PAIR OF SLIPPERS tony baker PIZZERIA peter heaton
WE CLOSE AT TEN peter heaton
THIS DOES NOT INCLUDE TAXIS tony baker
AVOID CIDER tony baker YOU DRINK WE DRIVE peter heaton
CHAIN STORE CUT OFF peter heaton SHIRT tony baker
SHE AINT NO HUMAN BEING tony baker THE KING, WE LOVE ‘IM peter heaton
BOOK RAT peter heaton HOT WINE tony baker
WINGED CENTAUR tony baker CROUCHING LION HIDDEN DRAGON peter heaton
SPARES OR REPAIR peter heaton
WINDOW STORAGE tony baker
LEON BURGER tony baker INEDIBLE peter heaton
WE SELL FAGS peter heaton WE SELL ‘OUSES tony baker
So here’s the thing - there were these two blokes, and they’d both been independently taking photographs for years - during which time, it had not gone un-noticed that they seemed to share a similar visual language (at times, they even appeared to photograph the same things) and, although neither had chosen to explore the why’s and wherefore’s of all this, it had been mooted that it might have something to do with them both developing their creative bents during the zeitgeist of the punk era, or, alternatively, it was suggested that it was because they both used to favour Dandelion and Burdock when they were kids. Anyway, whatever the reason for their kindred visual spirits, one day, one of these blokes wrote in an email (that was in response to something the other one had written), that sometime, in the not-too-distant-future, they should do a project together. The other one immediately replied, suggesting that they start some kind of ‘snap chat’ with photographs plundered from their respective archives (am I losing you yet?), with the added proposal that they should knock out a hundred of these exchanges and produce a book called PHOTOr esponse. And that was that - bloke ‘A’ started the ball rolling by return of post with a photograph called England Keep Out, and from that point on they averaged one or two of these exchanges a day, putting the resulting responses on a blog called photoresponse.blogspot.com There was no great master plan, and very little in the way of written exchanges, and other than adhering to the process of one of them responding to the others image and then posting their own, there was no set rules or themes. And in here lies the charm of the whole thing - one minute there will be a photograph of a sign bearing the words ‘Well Rotted Horse’ nestling next to stone edifice of a member of the equine species and the next there will be a dramatic landscape reflected in the surface of a reservoir juxtaposed with a bronzed figure reading Alan Bennet by the side of a swimming pool. You have just flicked through a draft version of the book, before the project has even reached the halfway mark – by the time the project finishes, it’s quite possible that the design layout will have changed completely – so make the most of this one while it lasts.