Disproving the old theatrical adage: 'never work with children or animals', the charming photographic archive
of Paul Kaye proves that the trickiest subjects can often result in the most engaging pictures. The son of a commercial
photographer, Paul Kaye's initial career in show business gave him an instinct for taking a shot that would melt the hardest
of Fleet Street editor's hearts.
Our collection of his work, dating mainly from the late 1950s and early 1960s, is roughly divided into three themes.
'Unusual Friends' places natural enemies of the animal world together in convivial scenarios, perhaps a cat sharing a
saucer of milk with a mouse, or a fox in cosy companionship with a duck. The Kaye family's Spaniel puppy Susi became
something of a celebrity during the 1950s with antics, both solo and with other animals, that was to make her a regular
in the Sunday Pictorial magazine where she was known as 'the Pic Puppy'. Finally, his photographs documenting the children
who lived in his native Balham are a nostalgia-steeped journey back to a more innocent time, when kids could play out until
dusk and the greatest treat was the Saturday matinee at the cinema and a bottle of pop from the corner shop. |
