Only a very small proportion of us take those excesses with us into later life. In the age before everyone had a camera, it was worthwhile, in my opi…

- Derek Ridgers

When I was starting, I was very much influenced by the straight up, eyes to camera style of August Sander. He is really the only one. Had I known the…

- Derek Ridgers

The big downside to the global village that the Internet has created is that nothing has time to grow out of the public gaze and, even more dangerous…

- Derek Ridgers

Many nightclubs from this era were very loud and very dark. Plus some of the best ones were incredibly crowded. To begin with, I could seldom get bac…

- Derek Ridgers

Things are very different now because a lot of those little clubs don't exist. In Soho for instance, where nearly half my nightlife photographs were …

- Derek Ridgers

My parents, though very loving, were not what one would ever describe as outgoing and therefore when I was young I was quite shy and socially awkward…

- Derek Ridgers

In the age of social media, you have the selfie and some people - not always young people - seem obsessed with showing the world what their face look…

- Derek Ridgers

That's one of the wonderful things about the whole process of photography - eye contact can be very revealing.

- Derek Ridgers

I preferred that option, where my camera (and by proxy, me) could look them straight in the eye. The way they reacted to me was always interesting. S…

- Derek Ridgers