How do you track a family history before it is "destined to be lost in time"? For Ronnie Westrip, the answer began with a "big old cardboard box of old family photos" under his grandmother’s bed. This biography charts a remarkable journey starting in the post-war simplicity of 1950s Barnet—a world of black-and-white TVs, "pea-souper" fogs, and threepenny pocket money.
Guided by the author's "Puddle Philosophy"… the belief that life is a vast puddle where every step marks a milestone and every ripple impacts those we meet—the narrative follows a career defined by seismic technological shifts. From the high-pressure darkrooms of Fox Photos in Fleet Street, to the "state-of-the-art" transition into the digital era, Westrip provides an insider's view of the photographic industry's evolution.
Readers will find themselves on stage with icons like Jimi Hendrix, The Pink Floyd, and Cream, and behind the scenes of the advertising industry that shaped the national retail landscape for high street giants. The book does not shy away from the "good and bad times," offering a candid look at family dramas, professional betrayals, and personal health battles that "pulled the plug out" but failed to stop his momentum.
From the bustling streets of London to a "retirement" filled with teaching, community activism, and an award-winning news sheet in St Ives, this book is an invitation to see how one man confidently "splashed forward" through seven decades of change. Insightful, nostalgic, and deeply personal, it is a record of a life lived not just in the darkroom, but in the light of constant reinvention.