In this episode, Derek Ridgers explores his Photographic Memory: an image of Ronald Reagan in LA with President Gerald Ford in 1974.
Derek is a photographer who has taken portraits for magazines including The Face and NME. He started his professional career in the 1970s photographing youth culture on the streets of London. I bought his book 78-87, a retrospective of this work, when it was first published in 2013 and it had a big influence on how I perceived my subjects and the city itself. Derek has an open minded approach and this is reflected in his refreshingly diverse and unselfconscious photography.
In this conversation we talk about the challenges of shooting on the street and how his career developed into being a music photographer shooting the likes of Kylie Minogue, Nick Cave, Snoop Dogg and the Spice Girls.
Instagram: @derekridgers
Timestamps
04:48 78/87 London Youth by Derek Ridgers
05:00 Derek’s photographic memory of Ronald Reagan at the Century Plaza Hotel in LA talking to president Gerald Ford in 1974
11:33 Derek talks about the skinheads he photographed in the 70s & 80s
14:22 Derek talks about photographing Punks. Photos taken from his book Punk London 1977
35:46 Leigh Bowery, Siouxsie Sioux & Boy George portraits that Derek captured
36:54 Archive photos of couples kissing; a collaboration between Derek Ridgers & Saint Laurent
Derek Ridgers for Saint Laurent 
Derek Ridgers for Saint Laurent
38:44 The Spice Girls, Holborn Studios, 1996
40:00 NME Photography from the 1990s
Damon Albarn of Blur 
Kylie Minogue 
Nick Cave 
Snoop Dogg 
Robbie Williams 
Johnny Depp & Shane MacGowan
44:36 The Book: 78-87 London Youth
46:00 Scarlett Cannon by Derek Ridgers
