Q.01: You were born in England. Could you tell us your profile?
I was born in London and lived there until I moved to NYC in 1982.

Q.02: Where did you study photography? Which photographer did you admire at the time?
I studied photography at the London College of Printing in London for 3 years. I admired many photographers – everyone from Cartier Bresson, William Klein, August Sander, Irving Penn, Diane Arbus.

Q.03: Your book "MADE IN THE UK" is amazing that captured exciting moments of the UK's Punk and New Wave scene in the late 70's and early '80's.  How did you get yourself into the scene?
Thank you for the compliment. I always loved music and style. In the early seventies I worked in a youth centre and took photographs of the kids there dressed like mods or rockabillies, whatever was fashionable at the time. In 1976 I showed my portfolio to record company art directors and started some work doing photos for record covers. Around that time I met the editor of Sounds, a weekly magazine, who commissioned me to go and take photos of Siouxee and the Banshees that night. She liked my work and gave me more assignments. I went to work as a freelance photographer for Melody Maker. The punk explosion had just started and I loved the music and the styles, the spirit of anarchy and rebellion. Melody Maker gave me 2- 3 assignments per week shooting bands from the Specials to the Sex Pistols.

Q.04: ou shot many well-known bands and musicians like Crash, Sex Pistols, Jam and Pete Townshent, how did you get those incredible opportunities?
Usually I was commissioned by a magazine or a record company – there were no boundaries – you could shoot what you wanted- for instance I went to Italy to photograph the Clash and it just happened that I was in the dressing room before the concert – hanging out – taking shots – the magazine was a weekly and would run whatever I shot. – I also developed and printed all my own photos.

Q.05: Do you remember your reaction when Sid Vicious died?
None could believe that he was dead – we were shocked even though everyone knew he had a bad drug problem. When I went to the Sid Vicious Memorial March – I was amazed at how many people were there – it seemed like here were thousands of punks all very dressed, as if every punk in the UK had come to show their support and sadness.

Q.06: The people in your book are extremely cool and fashionable, where did they get their clothes?
People in those days in London didn’t have any money- there were no jobs and the economy was terrible. Therefore we had to be inventive with what little we had. Kids would get their clothes from thrift stores, jumble sales, get old clothes from their parents and from army surplus stores. It was about they way they would put them together. Rip clothes up pin them together with safety pins and make new clothes. There were also a few very fashionable clothes stores like Boy and Vivienne Westwood in London that sold clothes to the kids. A lot of the clothes at Boy came from America. People were wearing American parachute suits, with Doc Marten boots, and biker jackets, the girls were wearing an old sweater from their mum with bondage trousers from Vivienne Westwood. I think the punks used to steal a lot of clothes from Vivienne Westwood because they were so expensive.

Q.07: It must have been a lot of fun to be in that scene. Do you miss those days?
Yes I really miss those days. People were very open and definitely less restrictions. I remember going to a punk club with a crazy  punk friend who took all her clothes off and was dancing around wearing  a curtain from the window and a lot of makeup – no one cared – I think the music was amazing like nothing we had heard before. There was no difference between the bands and the fans, you didn’t have to be a musician to form a band – anyone could do it – it was an incredibly creative time both music and fashion wise. And somehow the fact that no one had any money – we were all in it together- it didn’t matter. It was much more about making the music and the fashion and the art than about the money. Very different from these days.

Q.08: Now you are living in NYC. When did you move and why?
I moved to NYC in 1982 – at that time punk was almost over and I came to visit a friend here in NYC. The new hip-hop movement had just started – to me it seemed like the next wave of creative music and style that came from the streets  – it was another movement like punk that had art( Graffiti), dance (Break dancing)  Poetry (rap) and music.  I was very excited by it and soon began to get work photographing the artists. Magazines like The Face magazine in the UK would call and commission me to go and take photographs of the latest musicians Run DMC, Salt n Pepa etc – and then I started to work for all the new labels like Def Jam, Profile etc shooting hip-hop artists for record covers.

Q.09: Did you find any similarities or differences between London and NY Punk/ New Wave scene at that time?
I lived in NYC very close to the famous punk club called the Mud Club and the scenes were very similar , I would go out and see bands late at night- I was also working for a magazine when it started called Paper which covered the downtown NYC scene.

Q.10: Now you make T-shirts with us. How do you feel about your photograph on the T-shirts?
I think it is wonderful to collaborate and make my art into another media.

Q.11: Who is the best T-shirts person/musician/actor, and why?
Are you asking me what is my favorite T shirt? Or whom I would like to see on a T shirt? Well I really love the photo you are using of Dee Dee Ramone for a T shirt – I think he is in the perfect guitar punky pose – During the late seventies my favorite T shirt was Madness T shirt that said’ Fuck Art Let’s Dance’ very simple..

Q.12: Which place or town is your favorite and why?
I love NYC – always something new to see, a lot of things o do, 24-hour city. London will always be one of my favorites because I have many good friends there. I was in Tokyo 3 years ago an amazing city – I loved the old traditions fish market temples and the new crazy shops neon signs really brilliant visually.