Becky the dog steals the show: John Dean’s best photograph

2026-03-11 - 15:03

‘In 1976, Nottingham’s Victorian buildings were being torn down to make way for newer council housing. I’d go to the park and regularly bump into this man. To me, this picture seems very English’ This was taken 50 years ago by my 20-year-old self. I was away from Baltimore for the first time, where I had been at art school while still living at home. My tutor at Maryland Institute College of Art, and his friend, a tutor at Nottingham Trent University, had decided to set up an exchange programme. So I spent one spring semester in Nottingham with no classes to attend: it was strictly photography and strictly on my own, which was kind of new. I stayed with a young family – I lived on the third floor in their Victorian house. They had a baby boy who turned one when I was there. I have pictures of the birthday. I was really embedded, as they’d say today, with this family. We had dinner together. I remember we made marmalade, using the pips to get the pectin. Continue reading...