Michael Green – ARKS, ADAM AND AXARQUIA

From 1960 until 1975 “The Studio” was a hive of photographic activity. A seemingly unremarkable corner of NW3 (where Arkwright Road meets Frognal, to be precise) became the scene of remarkable commercial and artistic creativity. Some of the UK’s, Europe’s and even some of America’s most iconic advertising images of the era emerged from this most unflashy and unpretentious of locations. Sidney and his gifted, happy team produced a stream of pictures that encapsulated Britain’s mood shift away from dull, post-war straight-lace to swinging 60’s cool and verve.

*My older brother Michael in a magazine ad for a-then-state-of-the-art Creda clothes dryer. We can imagine the caption that went with the picture* …

Moreover, their work didn’t merely reflect the prevailing trends but often set the tone of the times with a stream of iconic (a massively overused word, but not in this case), highly innovative and enduring images.

Sidney the model for once, at his dental practice, with Michael in the chair. My father Gerald Green was the art director of the shoot, and he probably took the photo. In the early days of the studio, Sidney got a lot of work through Gerry (as he was known then) and his partner Bill Young’s agency (Crane Advertising), which in turn received a lot of government sponsored commissions. This was part of a campaign to promote dental health in children…

Famous female faces to grace the Studio included Pattie Boyd (future wife to George Harrison, then Eric Clapton) Nancy Edgerton, Sandra Paul (now Howard), Joanna Lumley, Celia Hammond, Julie Bishop, Adele Collins, Ann Kerr, Paula Heyworth, Jeanette Harding, Anya Sonn, Tammi Etherington, Davina Taylor, Biddy Lampard, Christine Williams, Julie Bishop, Pat Knight and Margaret Lorraine. Among the male models were Ken Swift, Geoff Wooten, George Lazenby (later 007), Pip Perkins, wrestler, Jackie Pallo and Norman Lambert .

The Green family in another government sponsored ad for family planning, and The London Rubber Company (through the use of Durex). The poignant story behind this photo can be found in an earlier post…

In addition to Sidney and Co’s classic fashion shots, they gave 1960’s Britain an original and often defining glimpse of everything from Danish Bacon, Guinness, Heineken Lager, Paxo Turkey Stuffing, Carr’s Water Biscuits to Max Factor roll-on deodorant (and dozens of other products besides).

An ad for Selfridges boys shirts – in addition to all his many other activities, Sidney was staff dentist at Selfridges for over 30 years. This resulted in him doing much of their ad campaigns in the 60’s and 70’s, and, best of all, being given a lifetime 33⅓% discount card on all products – including sale goods. Being leant Sidney’s card was one of the most sought after perks by all those who worked with him and for him (including his family members such, as Michael and I in this shot)…

Apart from being a seriously good fashion photographer, Sidney was a master of head-shots and a genius with still-life. Long before “food styling” was a thing, Sidney’s food and drink ads in particular were masterpieces of light, colour, depth and shade, often setting benchmarks for all those that followed.

Hannah standing in for a model on a Max Factor shoot on the left, in 1964. The photo on the right dates from 1967, but I can’t recall what it was for. From my recollection models were often late for work, and I think mum was pulled in on at least three occasions for headshots like these…

Unfortunately, I do not have access to much of Sidney’s professional portfolio, and much of the material I do have, I do not have the rights to reproduce here. Nevertheless, I am fortunate to own all of Sidney’s work for which I, and other family members were the models. And, while some of these images will be familiar to regular readers of these posts, there are also one or two charming surprises which give at least a flavour and the atmosphere of the Studio’s output in the early-to- mid 1960’s.

*I think this was the final time I modelled for Sidney, about 1967. I know the baseball boots were mine, so I’m presuming that it was for the clothes.*

A portrait of a family

Around late 1959, early 1960, my father, Gerry Green and his business partner, Bill Young launched out on their own as an advertising partnership. They had plenty of contacts in the industry and thus plenty of work, but soon found that the price of good photographers was prohibitive to the success of their burgeoning venture.

Fortunately, Gerry’s brother-in-law, Sidney Pizan, in addition to being a dentist, was a talented amateur photographer, and when approached was open to the idea of trying his hand at applying his skills commercially.

Sidney took to advertising photography like a duck to water, and within a few months, had established himself in Hampstead (in north London) as a professional photographer, getting more work – both from Gerry and Bill, and his growing string of contacts – than he could manage alone. Before long Sidney began recruiting other young aspiring photographers, apprentices and assistants to help him carry the workload and run his business. “The Studio”, as it was known, became something of a commercial photography academy, founding not only Sidney’s career, but those of a string of gifted colleagues.

In my next part of this tribute to my late uncle, I will go into more detail regarding Sidney and his team’s output of fabulous advertising images, but for Sidney himself, despite his success, his greatest creative enjoyment remained his “free” or “casual photography”.

Presented below are some of his best pictures, all of his family (particularly my mother – his sister – Hannah, my older brother Michael and I). If this seems a tad narcissistic on my part, I should point out, that we – his parents, and us – were the epicentre of his life, outside of his professional lives – and were, in a very real sense, his photographic muses. In those days, when out and about or when visiting the Studio , I can’t remember a time when Sidney did not have his trusty Rolleiflex hanging from his neck and him pointing it in our direction. Narcissistic or not, these images are moody, emotive, sensitive, an intimate family portrait, and just a damn brilliant illustration of the photographic portraiture and human study at its very best…