THE TWO ROBERTS This is Robert Macbryde, photographed in Dublin when Frank was over for the premiere of Fings at the Olympia, where it ran for a season. Macbryde had moved there from London after the death of his partner Robert Colquhoun. The two Ro
GASTON BERLEMONT Gaston on Frank: “Frank was basically a loner. His early life had forced him to be tough or at least appear to be so, his scarred face forever set in a mask of disdain for the Establishment, a rebel without a real cause, alway
BOY SMOKING Frank lived in a squat with Lucian Freud in Paddington (or Soho, sources are conflicting!) not long after he left the fairground, and they remained friends. Freud painted Frank a couple of times, here’s Boy Smoking (Frank in his la
WALLS DO NOT A PRISON MAKE NOR IRON BARS A CAGE We were due to launch an exhibition of Frank’s paintings in a prison restaurant this week, but it was cancelled at the last minute, and the paintings deemed to be ‘inappropriate’(!) T
AN ASHTRAY ON A STORK Geraldine’s account of how she met Frank, as written in the 1987 Times piece (see previous post) Dan Farson wrote in his ‘Soho In The Fifties’ memoir that Frank “enjoyed a glorious stroke of luck in me
I rediscovered this 1987 article from The Times, written by Frank’s widow Geraldine on the occasion of the last two reissues of Frank’s books (‘Bang to Rights’, and ‘Banana Boy’). As far as I know this was the last
One of two John Deakin photographs of Frank found discarded in Francis Bacon’s studio in the mid-80’s by Jeff’s brother Bruce Bernard. Deakin used to photograph potential subjects for Bacon. Unfortunately the nearest Bacon got to
“Soho is a roundabout, which sometimes spins around so fast that it is impossible to jump off” A day spent eating/drinking/gambling around Soho a lá Frank n Jeff to ‘capture the spirit’ for a @guardian feature. No prob
Herb Greer American photographer Herb Greer took some early press shots of Frank as well as the cover images for his books. Here’s the Pan paperback of Stand On Me, featuring a Herb Greer shot, along with a selection of #London pics that Frank
FAR TOO CREEPY Just finished recording with the lovely Stephen Coates for the @bureauoflostculture podcast, talking about Frank and his life and his relationship with Soho. We discussed how fascinating it is that Frank managed to overcome such spec
DABBING AT MY HOOTER WITH A POWDER PUFF Reflecting on a fun week with the book launch / private view and the first Soho Night & Day press coverage in Time Out. I also spent all day in Soho on Friday for an upcoming Guardian piece; eating, drinki
THE SULTRY WORLD OF 60’s SOHO @timeoutlondon gallery of Soho Night & Day + write up. Link in stories… ‘He [Frank] wrote it and I took the pictures, it was something of a farce,’ Bernard said. ‘We’d wander a
1966 Though it seems odd today, generation gaps were very much a thing back in 1966. Your parents were from another planet, listening to Jim Reeves and Ken Dodd or whatever. As Jon Savage states in his book ‘1966’, it was ‘the year
Very excited to announce ‘Soho Night & Day, An Exhibition’ to celebrate the release of the book in two weeks time. Hosted at Colony Room Green, a near enough exact replica of the original Colony Room located in the basement of Ziggy&r
INTERLUDE ABROAD An extract from ‘Stand On Me’, Frank’s first trip overseas where he spent a few weeks first in Jersey then on to France travelling with his girlfriend Velma and her son Johnny, and then his mates from Cafe 86 befor
“Aluminium! Don’t talk about aluminium to me.” One of the things I love about ‘Soho Night & Day’ are the everyday characters it reveals, for every Gaston Berlemont or Muriel Belcher there are the less remembered bu
DESIRES FOR MY BIRD Take a look at this brilliant photo of Frank and model Jennifer Hocking taken by Duffy, who along with David Bailey and Terence Donovan became the swinging sixties photography triumvirate, defining the decade with their portraits
THE WAGES OF SIN IS DEATH Frank took art classes in prison and left with a large portfolio marked ‘Camp Hill Prison, Isle Of Wight, 1956’, which is currently under Frank’s old desk at the flat on Great Portland St. Frank had time i