Gallery
Taking Liberties
John 'Hoppy' Hopkins
Anti Racist March Notting Hill
John 'Hoppy' Hopkins, circa 1965
What's particularly noticeable about this photograph is that it depicts a mixed demonstration of both black and white people, which would have been quite unusual for the time. The demo was held on a Sunday so you can see most of the demonstrators are dressed in their Sunday Best. The march was in support of the huge civil rights rally organized by Martin Luther King in Washington, during the same week.
Lone Marcher on Windsor Great Park
John 'Hoppy' Hopkins, 1964
Every Easter there used to be a march by the campaign for nuclear disarmament starting near Reading where the warheads were made, and ending at Trafalgar square on Easter Monday. The route went through Windsor Great Park, and in the background of the photograph you can see the flag is flying on Windsor Castle, which signifies that the queen is in residence. Although this depicts one lone marcher, the actual march included 100s of thousands of people.
Malcolm X speaks in Notting Hill
John 'Hoppy' Hopkins, 1964
Malcolm X a peace activist is photographed speaking at a meeting in Notting Hill in London, which had been arranged by an Islamic group. Unfortunately, Malcolm X was assassinated in New York a couple months after this photograph had been taken. This photograph is one of a series commissioned by Peace News, a small independent paper.
Martin Luther King
John 'Hoppy' Hopkins, 1964
Martin Luther King was an important figure in the peace movement and his reputation was worldwide. He mainly concentrated his campaign to combat Racism as experienced by black people in the USA. Here he was on his way to collect the Nobel Peace Prize but stopped off to hold a press conference in London, which was organised by the campaign for nuclear disarmament.
The Beatles at Teddington TV Studios
John 'Hoppy' Hopkins, 1964
On the extreme left is Neil Aspinall the Manager of the Beatles; you can also see Paul Mc Cartney, Ringo Starr in the centre and John Lennon on the right hand side. The photograph was commissioned by the Melody Maker, which at that time was the leading music paper in the country. They asked Hoppy to photograph the Beatles in rehearsal, but he never took any pictures of them at rehearsal because he felt the photos of them arriving were much more interesting.
The Rolling Stones
John 'Hoppy' Hopkins, 1964
Here is Mick Jagger and the Rolling Stones playing at an all night gig to launch their single ‘All Over Now'. This was taken at about 4.30am and by that time the crowd had thinned out leaving only the most enthusiastic fans. Hoppy chose this viewpoint so you could see both the singer and the audience.