On this episode of The Paul Weller Fan Podcast, Photographer Martyn Goddard takes us through his Jam archives.
For avid consumers of Jam vinyl in the late seventies and early eighties, Martyn Goddard’s photographs need little introduction. His images appear on the cover of their first album, In The City, and their fifth, Sound Affects.
His photos were also used on the front covers of a flurry of picture sleeve singles from 1977 to 1979: In The City, All Around The World, The Modern World, News of The World, David Watts/ ‘A’ Bomb in Wardour Street, Down in the Tube Station at Midnight, and finally Strange Town.
We dive into his personal recollections, and his shoot journals, where he recorded the dates of his studio sessions – and hear a bunch of memories from working with The Jam.
Find out more on Jam Sessions – Photographs by Martyn Goddard – his limited edition book with SnapGalleries.com here…
After a period assisting acclaimed photographer Gered Mankowitz, Martyn became a regular face on the New Wave music scene of the seventies and early eighties. This was an era of LP picture discs with serious budgets requiring creative photography. Photographing acts such as Blondie, The Jam, The Cure, Sham 69, Ian Dury, and Toyah lead to commissions from Queen and Elton John’s Rocket Records in the rock mainstream.
While working for the Sunday Telegraph Magazine, You and Sunday Times Magazine in the 1980’s he shot portraits and features with recording acts such as Genesis, U2, Jethro Tull, UB40 and Wham, progressing to portraits of great writers, artists, actors and politicians.
A period of working with Wham in the late 1980’s, including their groundbreaking tour of China, closed a chapter of life within the music business.
Martyn went on to work for Car magazine, creating new techniques of automotive and travel photography.
In recognition of his work, Martyn became a Fellow of the British Institute of Professional Photography in 1987.
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EP41 – Martyn Goddard – Photographer – Jam Sessions – "In echoed steps you walk across an empty dream…" – Paul Weller Fan Podcast : Desperately Seeking Paul
The Jam Albums – Photography by Martyn Goddard
The Jam Singles – Photography by Martyn Goddard
Snap Galleries – Martyn Goddard
The Jam Sessions Book & Bio
Martyn Goddard began taking photographs at school, building a darkroom in his parents’ bathroom. He went on to study photography at Harrow College of Art, where he refined his technique and, as he puts it “learned how to take pictures”. After graduating in 1974 he assisted various leading photographers, including renowned music photographer Gered Mankowitz, before going freelance.
He became part of the new wave music scene of the late-seventies, shooting artists such as Blondie, The Jam, Sham 69, Ian Dury and The Cure. He went on to work with more mainstream acts such as Genesis, Queen, Wham! (touring China with them) Elton John and U2. Towards the end of the seventies he was invited to contribute to The Sunday Telegraph Magazine where he was assigned portrait and feature shoots with some of the great writers, artists, actors and politicians. At the same time he was also contributing to the iconic Car magazine, producing automotive and travel stories. In recent years he has moved to a digital platform, becoming an active photo-blogger and content provider, producing travel features and images for media groups in the UK, Europe and USA, in addition to cataloguing and preserving his extensive archive of musicians.
He has contributed to or staged several photography exhibitions including Blondie in Camera in 1978 and The Jam About the Young Idea in 2015. He has published two book combining his images of musicians and motors, Rock ‘n’ Roll and Fast Cars, (Volumes 1 and 2). As Martyn explains: “As a freelancer I have always had the freedom to work for an array of interesting magazines and record labels. It has been an extension of my teenage dreams of music and fast cars that my chosen profession has given me the ability to be a part of both worlds, as I can’t play a note of music and only managed fourth place in my ten-year career as a historic rally driver.”
His collaborator on the Jam sessions that are featured in this book, Bill Smith, said “Martyn has always been terrific to work with, and after the first Jam session we worked on many, many album and single covers together—very successfully in my opinion. In a strange way we complemented each other in our working styles. His work is testament to his vigilant eye for detail and meticulous preparations. Too many people think photography is just clicking the shutter and hoping for the best. Martyn belies this notion, which is why he is still working all these years later.”
Find out more at snapgalleries.com/portfolio-items/jam-sessions-by-martyn-goddard
Great reading.