Many years ago I was involved in the Italian publication of Alexander Trocchi’s novel Young Adam. It was a project I approached with great passion and devotion, but I must admit that in my research I was also very lucky as I met great people who willingly shared with me their stories about the Scottish writer. One of them was the writer Tom McGrath and his partner Ella who invited me to their house where we chatted for hours in front of the fireplace while Tom recounted stories about Trocchi and about his life. He recalled his experiences as editor of underground magazine International Times (IT) and mentioned also the other editors, Barry Miles, Jim Haynes and John "Hoppy" Hopkins, a photographer turned activist and organiser who also set up the London Free School, promoted Pink Floyd and, together with music producer Joe Boyd, started London’s first psychedelic club, UFO.
Lee has recently supported the publication of the volume From The Hip - Photographs by John “Hoppy” Hopkins 1960-66 (Damiani Editore). The volume opens with pictures of music icons, rehearsals and gigs: some images portray John Lennon and the Beatles caught in intimate moments or the Rolling Stones looking young and brazenly arrogant, but the bulk of Hoppy’s music photographs focuses on jazz and blues legends such as Louis Armstrong, Oscar Peterson, Lee Morgan, John Coltrane, Miles Davis, Duke Ellington, Sister Rosetta Tharpe and John Lee Hooker. The theme of the pictures then moves on to underground culture events with images from the legendary 1965 poetry reading at the Royal Albert Hall, with exclusive portraits of Allen Ginsberg, Lawrence Ferlinghetti, Alexander Trocchi and Gregory Corso among the others. Great emphasis is given to anti-nuclear protests and important events such as Dr Martin Luther King lecturing at a peace conference in Oxford and Malcolm X’s speaking in Notting Hill. The focus towards the end of the book is on images of everyday London life that take the viewer on an unusual trip through the streets of England’s capital, visiting tattoo parlours in Portobello Road, joining dole queues and witnessing child poverty. In 1966 Hoppy gave up photography in favour of political activism and journalism and, in later years, he developed a passion for shooting videos.
To know more about the book and about Hoppy, you can read my interview with him on Dazed Digital.
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