Gods Own Junkyard is celebrating its 70th year in neon this October with a Soho install at The Other Art Fair. To mark this seven-decade achievement, it’s partnering with David Ellis – regular Square Mile front cover photographer – to photograph visitors for the fair in their own magazine-style photo shoot against the Soho-styled neon.
In 1953, Gods Own Junkyard started making neon for the leisure industry and notably, for London’s Soho. Established by Dick Bracey and later, his son Chris, it was Soho that put the wind in their sails and allowed them to move away from making signs for casinos and movie houses and create pieces that would appear in films and popular culture to this day.
Chris would go on to make neon for countless Hollywood films: Bladerunner, Beetlejuice, Batman, Superman, Eyes Wide Shut, Interview with a Vampire, several Bond movies and many more. Countless celebrities have been shot at Gods Own Junkyard in Walthamstow.
Grayson Perry is a fan and Kate Moss, Lady Gaga, Elton John, Harry Styles, Alexa Chung, David Beckham, Jay Z, Johnny Depp and Jude Law are among those to have bought in recent years.
As a business and showroom with literally hundreds of neons, where keeping the lights on is much more expensive than most, the cost-of-living crisis has hit it hard. Its install at The Other Art Fair will take people back to an era where their neons became part of the London landscape.
Guests can buy a photo session by David Ellis, against the neon for their own magazine cover-style shoot, have a cocktail or buy a neon artwork or one of their affordable Stage Door light boxes. Ultimately, it’ll be a celebration of the fact that despite these financially difficult times, they have the lights and the legend blazing bright.
Will.I.Am for Square Mile shot by David Ellis
As for Ellis, he grew-up and went to school in Bristol where he found it difficult to express himself other than on the playing field or in the art room. He describes himself as an accomplished dyslexic. Written communication was a serious challenge for him and to this day, he recalls asking his teacher as a 13-year-old, if he could just speak the answers rather than write them down.
He started using his mum and his dad’s camera from the age of four. During GSCEs, he would often take pictures of objects so he could draw them. He bought his first camera when he was around 15 and photography quickly became his passion and visual means of expression. He even built a darkroom in his bedroom, which he wouldn’t recommend, given that the chemicals needed to produce photographic materials are highly toxic, which he discovered when he spilt them over his carpet.
After school, he moved from Bristol to Brighton to study photography. While still a student, David photographed Carl Cox for The Escape Club, Fat Boy Slim for Skint Records and Peter Stringfellow and Tilda Swinton for an arts magazine.
When he graduated in 1996, David secured a telesales contract, which was his only experience in a traditional office environment. He entered the workplace, wearing an ill-fitting suit he had bought from a charity shop and spent a thankless eight-hour stint in booth.
“After cold-calling hairdressers down the road, I asked my line manager what the point was. I decided there and then to start calling a few picture editors in London and do it for myself,” he clarifies. The next day, he returned the suit to the same charity shop and never went back to that booth – or any other.
Steve Aoki for Square Mile shot by David Ellis
Stanley Tucci for Square Mile shot by David Ellis
Instead, David arranged an internship at Getty, where he learned how to make photography a viable commercial option. Finding himself in the midst of the halcyon days of the 1990s, when magazine culture, dance music and Britpop were locked in a giddy collision, photography commissions came in thick and fast. His first break came via Suzanne Sykes, who commissioned him for a four-day shoot for Marie Claire, allowing him to pay off his overdraft in one fell swoop.
After this, David secured regular weekly work in The Sunday Times Magazine and later, an EDM magazine called Muzic. He would also photograph global talent for The Saturday Times supplement, where he was allowed the creative agency to create memorable covers. He recalls he convincing Eddie Izzard to be splattered with coloured paint as one of his favourite cover stories. Publications that followed in swift course included GQ, Elle, NME, Men’s Health, Mixmag, Q, The Red Bulletin – and, of course, Square Mile.
While there have been countless gold-star moments during David’s 30-year career, certain memories have stood out for him. He recalls commissioning an ice universe to photograph Justin Timberlake at the peak of his fame. “There was so much ‘Trousersnake’ nonsense around and the very obvious visuals around that. I decided to build him an ice palace to reference him as the coolest guy on the planet”, smiles David. “There was one small problem. I didn’t get it cleared. When the PR saw the set design, she hit the roof and vetoed it for health and safety reasons, questioning public liability.” However, when Justin Timberlake saw the set he said, “Wow, that’s cool – let’s do it”, so it went ahead as planned.
David was also the last photographer to capture Amy Winehouse for her promotional shots for her global tour. Very sadly, the shots were never used for this as a few months later, Amy passed away.
During the 2012 London Olympics, David exhibited The Gold Rush, an exhibition of photographs of gold medal Olympians he had shot during his career. Printed on the last batch of gold paper of its kind, the subjects included Usain Bolt, Mo Farrah, Chris Froome and Laura Trott.
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Among the legends and public figures that David has photographed are Riz Ahmed, Sir David Attenborough, Idris Elba, Tony Blair, Blur, Usain Bolt, Carl Cox Daniel Craig, David Guetta, Fat Boy Slim, Francis Ford Coppola, Jack Grealish, Le Bron James, Keira Knightly, The Libertines, Lionel Messi, Paul Pogba, The Prodigy, Christiano Ronaldo, REM, DJ Snake, DJ Skream, Tilda Swinton, Stanley Tucci, Amy Winehouse and Vivienne Westwood.
When David recognised that brands were creating content of such compelling quality, rivalling traditional media, he pivoted and found a way forward, thanks to his wealth of commercial and editorial experience. While working with Adidas on a global football campaign, the brand asked him to create content on an enormous scale. “Suddenly there was a change, the boldest and exciting work was being created by these behemoths. There was a point where I leant into my passion for editorial and leant into it,” he explains.
So now is your chance to follow the likes of Mark Ronson, Taron Egerton and Jodie Comer, who have all recently been photographed against Gods Own Junkyard’s neon. David Ellis is primed and ready to capture the shot so get ready for your close-up.
David Ellis’ sessions can be booked via Eventbrite priced at £200. David Ellis’ photography studio in partnership with Gods Own Junkyard will run from 12 – 15 October at The Other Art Fair.
