Life has a strange way of coming back to haunt you. I remember when Bob and I were first together he used to laugh and tell me what a marvellous old lady I was going to be. “You are going to be the keeper of the key” he used to say, and “people will come from far and wide to marvel at your wondrous collection of photographs, taken by your mad photographer husband who was killed in a freak accident, falling down the stairs with a cup of boiling tea”.
I was adamant that I was the one with the weak heart and would be definitely leaving the planet first. But here I am, “the keeper of the key”, looking after a stunning archive of the most amazing photographs. Every few weeks I come across another box of prints and images I remember Bob creating and they are all special, unique and magical.
Bob had an innate way of using his camera to step inside peoples souls. He was able to latch on to his subjects strengths and weaknesses, make them relax, and in that split second he would click the shutter and that image would be his forever. He had brilliant timing and he knew how and when to use it.
Our ‘Living Dolls’ exhibition encapsulates the best of his ‘Love Dolls Never Die’ collection and some exquisite one off pieces which makes this a very exciting show. I still get a buzz from his pictures when they are framed and on the wall. The last show sold out completely within a week.
Since his death I have worked closely with Ghislain Pascal, who worked as Bob’s agent for several years. I am lucky to have somebody who knows the archive almost as intimately as I do and we spend hours making choices for articles and exhibitions. Donations to Museums and Galleries take months to collate and I am always trying to think about Bob and what he would choose.
Every picture tells a story and it is hard sometimes when certain images remind me of good and bad times in our life together. Living with Bob was never easy as you never knew what excitements or disasters were about to happen. But most of all I remember his fantastic sense of humour and even at the blackest moments he had an ability to make me laugh.
Difficult, yes. Dangerous, yes. Mercurial, yes. Brilliant, definitely!
Eight years after his death, his images still draw the crowds, and collectors from all over the world want his photographs. The great thing is that the best is yet to come.
Lindsey Carlos Clarke, Bob’s wife
