Ray Smith Photography

08/04/2026

I HEREBY DECLARE THAT I DO NOT GIVE FACEBOOK OR META MY PERMISSION TO USE ANY OF MY PERSONAL DATA.

07/04/2026

FOUND NEGATIVES, 1988
Near Benidorm / Turia. Rolleiflex • Tri-X 400

Found these in a drawer.
Shot walking outside Benidorm with the Rolleiflex.

Turia was about two hours away.

Quick scans on a homemade lightbox—just previews.
I’ll have them done properly.

Tri-X still holds. Link: https://shorturl.at/vRrRo

06/04/2026

MY PORTRAIT OF MARK POWELL, 1995

Saturday. Brighton to Soho.

I drove up in my little red Yugo, boot loaded with a Pentax 6x7, Tri-X, tripod — and a huge HMI light that had no business being squeezed into a tailor’s office.

Soho was its usual puzzle.
Tight streets, slow turns — until, somehow, I parked right outside.

---

Mark Powell.

Already a presence in the men’s fashion pages — *Esquire, Arena, GQ* — right at the centre of that Soho world where tailoring met attitude. His office on D’Arblay Street was legendary. People passed through constantly — Kate Moss, Naomi Campbell, editors, stylists, musicians. If you cared about clothes, you ended up there.

---

We worked fast.

Tripod down.
Pentax loaded.
Tri-X ready.

I shot wide open.
The HMI pushed as high as that tight little room would allow — hard light, straight in.

No overthinking.
A few minutes and it was done.

---

That was the rhythm then.

Turn up.
Set up.
Take the picture.

And if you got it right, you knew immediately.

---

Outside, it was tipping down.

So I gave him a lift home.
A very merry ride it was.

A great day.

---

The photograph went on to make the front page of *The Times* as an “article inside” image.

Soho, 1995.
A man in his element.
No performance — just presence.

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📍 D’Arblay Street, Soho
📷 Pentax 6x7 • Tri-X
💡 HMI

#1995

06/04/2026

RECOVERED — Brighton Beach, 1993
From a found roll of negatives.
Shot on Rolleiflex · Tri-X 400

Models: Elite London / Storm London

—

Ovingdean.
Before the polish. Before the noise.
Just light, form, and instinct.

© Ray Smith 2026

02/04/2026

𝘕𝘦𝘸 𝘚𝘰𝘭𝘢𝘳 𝘠𝘦𝘢𝘳 2026
𝘚𝘱𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘌𝘲𝘶𝘪𝘯𝘰𝘹

02/04/2026

BIKER
Appledore, 2009

22/03/2026

Schuh advertorial, East London, 1997.
Shot handheld on 645, Ektachrome 200.
Warehouse loading bay, natural light.
Model’s second shoot—went on to be a success.
Different time. Film, instinct, no safety net.

Handheld 645. Ektachrome 200. New faces board. These are original tear sheets from a 1997 advertorial shoot for Schuh, photographed in East London behind a warehouse loading bay. Medium format 645....

21/03/2026

32° tattoo

21/03/2026

A tear sheet from an early 1990s schuh campaign.

Shot handheld on 645, Ektachrome 200.
East London — behind a warehouse, using the loading bay and car park. Nothing dressed.

New faces model. Second shoot. She went on.

Shoes were the point. Everything else followed. Same period Topshop was coming through — that whole look starting to form.