February 5th 1962. Readers of the British newspaper The Sunday Times discover a new element in their weekend reading, a colour features magazine the cover of which, a grid of fashion shots of Jean Shrimpton by a 25-year old David Bailey, promises ‘A sharp glance at the mood of Britain and a new James Bond story by Ian Fleming’.
Titled at first The Sunday Times Colour Section, the magazine appeared at a significant turning point in British cultural history and became both a stimulus for and a mirror of a country finally emerging from the grey years of post-war austerity. The advent of colour in a major national newspaper might be interpreted as an apt metaphor for the new sense of optimism that characterised the mid-sixties.
The magazine soon spawned imitators, but consistently led the field in the consistently high calibre of its photographic stories. These covered both domestic and international issues in an editorial mix that embraced the arts, fashion and lifestyle themes as well as providing uncompromising coverage of conflict, disaster and tough social subjects. The magazine format allowed for extended, in-depth coverage of topics that could not be afforded the same visual or analytical attention within the newspaper. This provided extraordinary opportunity for a whole generation of photographers. These included such talents as Eve Arnold, John Bulmer, Philip Jones Griffiths, David Montgomery, Terry O’Neill, Lord Snowdon, and, arguably the most significant of all, Don McCullin, whose harrowing images of such subjects as the civil strife in Northern Ireland, the famine in Biafra and the war in Vietnam proved so influential in raising public awareness of the brutality and suffering blighting so many lives across the globe. In the sixties and beyond, though no longer today, the magazine page was the key point of interface between photographers and their audience; courageous editors became key patrons of the medium, providing extraordinary possibilities for a wide spectrum of photographic talent.
It is perhaps difficult for a younger generation used to the range and immediacy of the electronic media to appreciate just what a powerful tool of communication such a magazine could be. For my part, I recall vividly what a precious window on the world I found in its pages. The knowledge I assimilated through the photographs published in this and its rival magazines provided an invaluable basis for my understanding of so many aspects of unfolding history and culture. The Sunday Times deserves credit for creating so influential a showcase for great photography. Happy birthday!
Philippe Garner
The Sunday Times Magazine, 50th anniversary
Until February 19, 2012
Saatchi Gallery
Duke of York’s HQ King’s Road
London SW3 4RY
Royaume-Uni
020 7811 3081
