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Copyright 2008 Peter Beavis Photography. All rights reserved. All Photographs appearing in this site are the exclusive property of Peter Beavis trading as Peter Beavis Photography and are protected under international copyright laws. Photographs are not to be downloaded, reproduced, copied, stored, manipulated, projected, used or altered in any way, alone or with any other material, or by use of computer or other electronic means without the express written permission of Peter Beavis Photography. The photographs are also protected my moral rights. The owner asserts his moral right to be identified as the author wherever and whenever his photographs are copied and distributed by any means. The use of any image as the basis for another photographic concept or illustration is a violation of copyright. By entering this site you are agreeing to be bound by the terms of this agreement. Entrance to this site is expressly on these conditions which embodies all of the understandings and obligations between the parties. Biography NO LONGER EDITABLE

Number of Titles: 26

Children Children 01

Bart

Portraits holding gallery Hurlingham Club

Landscape Holding Gallery

Circus

Dragon Power

Lakes

Landmine "Feet"

The Armstrongs

DHL

Nudes Holding Gallery

Beeline

Archive Holding Gallery

Neil

Holding page

Macif

UPC Digital

Alpro Soya

VipNet

SPMSD

Ford KA

Persil

YAZ

Ministry of Sound

New work holding page

Holding gallery for lifestyle

Number of Captions: 216

London - Oct 07

Central Park, New York - Dec 05

Barcelona - Nov 07

VipNet - Mobile Phones

Table Tennis

Beeline - Russia

Museum - Bears - Dec 05

Museum - Caribou - Dec 05

Beeline - Russia

UPC Digital

YAZ Contraception

Mark

Car Wash

Kiss

Dog On Board

Food Fight

Table Football

Football

Karaoke

Girl on a bike

Band

Helicopter Guy

Lake

Nicky in the grass

Piggy Back Race

The Fugative

Water Fight

Yoga

Alpro

I was born in Bristol to loving parents Kay and Leonard. My father, Len, owned a soft drinks business in Bristol called C. E. Beavis Mineral Water Ltd. It was a family business, started by my grandfather, C E Beavis in 1886, which my father ran with his sister Lil. When I was three or four my father sold the business. I remember my dad telling me that it was the first factory to be hit by incendiary bombs in the Second World War – a large part of the factory was destroyed. The heat of the bombs was so intense that it melted the glass bottles together. I remember walking around the premises with my father, picking up drinks labels, marble topped bottles and old advertising images that the business used. Looking at them now they seem so innocent compared to the clever and thought provoking ads that we are subjected to on a daily basis today. I was fascinated with the look and colour and I still have them today. The Bristol Evening post building now stands on the original site.

My father didn’t enjoy being transcripted into Beavis’s - he wanted to sell cars. He had a real passion for cars and motorbikes; he changed his car at least once a year. This enthusiasm and love of motorbikes started at a very young age. He pestered his father continually for him to buy him one. He eventually succumbed and bought him a motorbike. The only thing was, that it was delivered in pieces, in a sack. My father had to figure out how to put it together, which he did. On one escapade he had a pretty bad accident, launching himself over a roundabout and straight through a plate glass shop window. He spent several months in hospital, nearly losing his right arm. This didn’t curb his enthusiasm or thrill of driving.

My parents sent me to Clifton College in Bristol. Great school, oodles of space. Quite Harry Potterish, apart from the corporal punishment that was readily dished out. I remember turning up late for an extra maths lesson, proudly showing off several angry divets on my bum that a quick-handed master, good old Johnny Barrett, had delivered to my rear as punishment for some misdemeanour or other. I wonder how his Canneletto is fairing above his fireplace? Most lessons were spent watching how fast the minute hand on the clock would take to reach the end of the forty-five minutes, or at worst ninety minutes of the dreaded double maths.

Not all lessons went slowly. Double Art, what a perfect place to be - I felt totally at home there. Even the masters were alternative. I fitted in well and excelled. After a brief spell of A level Biology, and one lesson in particular, in which we had to dissect a cow’s eye, I quit and took up Pottery. Together with my Art classes, these became my favourite subjects. I was joined by two other boys in the A level Art stream, Abbo and Big John. I bumped into John a few years ago, and over lunch whilst strolling down memory lane, discovered that not only had he set up a very successful photographer’s agency called IPG, he had also married an old flame of mine. I have fond memories of smoking the odd crafty fag in the toilets in the Friday late slot with Big John and Abbo.

Another pastime I took up was the guitar. I had an electric guitar that I occasionally fooled around on. At the top of the Maths house was a small music room. I remember it was definitely off limits for teachers. Again this secret place felt ‘right’ to me. I remember watching and listening with amazement to Rodney Blake, one of the cool guys at school, playing his Les Paul, and being completely blown away. Not only by him, but also by the music - rock music had stolen my heart! My love for the guitar was born that afternoon. I found a guitar tutor out of school hours and started going to weekly lessons. I would turn up at Brian’s flat and find him playing along to Bach or Mark Knoffler. If he could hear it he could play it. Unfortunately my ear was not as good as his, but his encouragement and love of the guitar spurred me on. After a time with Brian I decided to take things a little more seriously, and bid him farewell. Brian’s gift to me on leaving was a handful of marijuana seeds. My mother, unknowingly, planted them up and grew them very successfully on the window ledge in the kitchen. I remember her remarking on what a pretty leaf they had! My new teacher was a classical guitarist, Jonathon Baker. He was a fabulous teacher, building my ability steadily and gradually tutoring me through all the grades. Again the lessons were off school time. He was definitely not Clifton like at all - a bohemian character, who liked a drink and a roll up, living a bachelor lifestyle in Royal York Crescent.

After completing my A levels at Clifton, I enrolled at Bower Ashton Foundation Art School in Bristol. This was a quite a change after the structure of daily school life. The biggest difference being that there were girls on the course! Most of the year was spent the traditional Art School way - drinking and going to as many gigs as possible. I still had a small bit of a routine, the day would always start with guitar practice, scales, and then more practice before evening. The year drifted by quite quickly. Suddenly the final term was upon us. We all had to put on a successful show to enable us to apply for a degree course. I put my head down and produced a body of work. London beckoned; Kingston University was my first choice - it had nothing to do with the fact that Eric Clapton was supposed to have been an old boy – I was accepted to do a Degree Course.

Kingston was a little like being back at school. It was structured and suited my nature well. I continued with the guitar, practicing religiously on a daily basis. I found myself in the Graphics stream and soon diverted to Illustration. I wanted to make images that were memorable. I had a very realistic style. This technique of drawing was instilled in us at Clifton where we were taught to draw in a very accurate way. At the time Albert Durer and Peter Bruegel were my inspiration – I was in awe of their technique and abilities. There were two down sides to this style: one was the fact that it was very slow and time consuming; the other was that it was very uncool. All the other students were producing all this ‘loose’ stuff and it wasn’t in me. Fortunately I teamed up with the only other chap, Gary, who was not practicing this alien work. To speed up the process of creating realistic work, I started to use photography to cut down on the drawing time. At this stage I knew little of the technical aspects of photography. But I could achieve my required results, with my trusted Canon. I was casting subjects and looking for locations before setting up the desired shot. This was fun. Better than just staring at a bright, crisp white art board. Of course, I hadn’t given up on illustration altogether. I loved the work of Wilson McClean, Allan Alderidge and Brad Halts but knew they had something special, and secretly admired some of the more expressive illustrators like Chloe Cheese and George Snow.

After leaving Kingston with a BA in Illustration and Design, for what it’s worth (have never been asked for any qualifications to this day), I joined up with Ian Fleming artist’s agent, and worked as a freelance illustrator. Serial packets, magazine and book covers, this was my fodder. The most interesting projects came from Roger Watt at Men Only. He gave me regular commissions and was very enthusiastic about my work. It was at this time that I started to use a technique of airbrushing onto photographs; a technique borrowed from Bob Carlos Clarke. This way of working was more instant. You didn’t have to spend two weeks on a picture and be told by the art director that ‘the illustrations look good, but can you alter the expression on the persons face’. This would lead to either a complete restart of the work or at best a patch job. Neither of which I found easy to take. The best piece of advice I have ever received about my career was from Ian himself, but at the time I found it hard to take, especially considering that I had won most of the art prizes at Clifton: I had just had a book cover rejected by a client, so Ian took me for a drink at the French house in Soho. He sat me down and told me in no uncertain terms that I couldn’t draw. This didn’t exactly make my afternoon. He said the woman in the picture had a distorted body. I wasn’t surprised -I had shot the reference pictures on a wide-angle lens. With this news, I packed up my pens and inks and gave up on illustration. I focused on photography, my new passion. The only problem with this ‘new’ career path was that I didn’t know anybody in the business. I was in awe of photographers; they were to me in a different league to the rest of us mere mortals!

The one good thing came out of joining Ian’s agency was that I got to hear, from one of the girls in the office, about a band that were auditioning for a new guitarist. I wanted this to happen at Art School but nothing came off. The audition was at the ‘Back Street Studios’ in Islington. Great rehearsal rooms – the smell of cigarettes, damp and ambition. I went in and met the band ‘ Johnny Pinko’, plugged in and played my best stuff, then left. I heard a day or so later to come back for another audition, and this time ‘rock it up a little’. At the time I was listening to a lot of guitar based Jazz Rock, Larry Carlton and Lee Ritenor. I joined the band, and soon got the Jazz Rock out of my system – replaced by Pop Rock! We played most of the well know venue’s in London including the original Marquee Club. The highlight was playing a few gigs in New York, including a benefit gig organised by Frank Zappa and Geraldine Page at The Limelight. Once we all returned to London and the usual pub audiences the fun had run out and it seemed I had to make my way and earn some money.

My girlfriend at the time was working for an interior design group and she suggested I contact the boyfriend of a work colleague, who was a photographer. So I did. I called Paul up and fixed a meeting. As soon as I entered the studio I had that old feeling back again. The same feeling as I felt in the music room back at school, that I fitted in! Paul shared his studio with two other photographers. Daniel shot mainly editorial and Jim shot cars. There was a great sense of camaraderie between each other or to put it another way they weren’t afraid to take the piss out of each other as good friends do. I suppose I was interviewed and asked about all things photographic. I must have sounded green, all I had was great enthusiasm and the one thing that probably clinched the deal was the fact I was happy to work for nothing - a trait you don’t seem to generally find in assistants these days - and that Paul’s previous assistant had gone to the States and never returned. I just wanted to hang out and learn. Which is exactly what I did. To say that I was keen is an understatement -I used to keep a Polaroid book and every day I would write up notes on what we had shot and how we achieved it. At weekends, Paul would let me use the studio to create sets. I played with most cameras. Borrowing or hiring Widelux’s, 5x4’s, 6x17’s etc. The two years I spent assisting Paul were two of the best years of my life. It was great being busy and travelling, seeing new things and experiencing all the ups and downs of being a photographer. Plus, after an initial ‘free’ two-month period, being paid! And all time, learning!

After two years, I decided that I wanted to set out on my own. It was terrifying yet exciting at the same time. I started up from my flat in Queens Park, and then moved on to a studio in Wren Street that I shared with a food photographer. Saddington Baynes are in the same studio now. A year later I bought a mews in Putney. I converted the ground floor into a studio and lived on the second floor. I felt a bit like David Hemmings in ‘Blow Up’, although in reality, it wasn’t at all like that! It was however hard work and great fun!

Whilst away on a long weekend, surfing in Cornwall, I picked up a message about a forth-coming job. I had to call the designer at the agency. I remember using the old BT phone booths to call, as my mobile had no reception in St Merryn. ‘May I speak to Alix’ I asked. When I heard her voice I felt an instant rapport. As the money quickly slipped away I arranged to meet Alix at my new studio the following week. This started a twelve year long relationship. Our son Bart was born in September 1998. Alix and I worked together, producing and styling. We married in 2005 after living in ‘sin’ for ten years. In July 2004 whilst on holiday, she experienced difficulty in swallowing. As soon as we returned to London she visited her doctor. ‘Probably nothing’ we were told but best to have a thorough check to be sure. She was diagnosed with esophageal cancer later that month. This started the most terrifying journey that no one should have to go through. Alix died May 7th 2006. She rests in Cornwall and on her headstone reads ‘Vida la Vida’ – ‘Live Life’.

I’ve found that you learn as you go along. If you are truly interested in your subject you continually use your eyes and observe the world around you. I find that my influences come from all visual media, whether it’s film, video or adverts, and even every day life, which can be the best and most simple inspiration. To mention my favourite photographers would be hard, but I enjoy looking at other photographer’s work that is not obviously linked to mine: Philip-Lorca diCorcia, Michael Kenna, Herbert List, Tierney Gearon and Ron Church. I also have a growing interest in Cornish art. Ben Nicholson, Patrick Heron and Paul Feiler are my favourites. I admire the way they feel and observe the landscape.

I love surfing and have done so since I was nine or ten years old.
I live with my wife Jen and son Bart and we split our time between London, Cornwall and Cape Town.

I’ve worked all over the world especially in Miami, LA, Hong Kong, Seychelles, Sydney, Europe, Cape Town and London.

Clients - Vodafone, Nokia, BT, Orange, Visa, British Airways, Budweiser, Macif, Coke, Ford, Swatch, VipNet, UPC, New York Times – Envelope, Stern Magazine, Polydoor, A&M, Ministry of Sound, Volkswagen, Canon, American Express, Euro Star, IBM, Dove, Imperial Leather, Samsung, Phillips. Persil, Clarks Shoes.