“It was while I was interrogating myself on the meaning of photography as art, especially in terms of photojournalism, that I met Colin Jones,” says Frankie Carradona, a London-based artist and visual storyteller. “Things often happen for a reason.”

Born in London in 1936, Colin Jones had an unorthodox trajectory into photography. Coming from a working-class home in the East End and also training with the English National Ballet, Jones went on to become a documentary photographer for The Observer, alongside Magnum greats like Don McCullen and Ian Berry. During his career he also shot iconic portraits of British rock band The Who and musicians Mick Jagger and Pete Townsend. 

“I already loved Colin Jones’ perspective on British colonialism thanks to his project on The Black House,” says Caradonna, referring to an image series that captured the evolution of a housing project for young black people. “I was over the moon when I bumped into his little witty figure at a printing lab, for his work was part of the photography I grew up with and the images I drew inspiration from.”

“His life-story is fascinating: a dyslexic child of the Blitz thrust into a glamorous world with the Royal Ballet, only to then become one of Britain’s greatest reportage photographers.” But it was during a trip as a dancer in the Philippines that he witnessed a shanty town being burned to the ground—an event that changed his perspective on life irreparably.

It was after this moment that Colin traveled the world photographing stories such as the Alabama Race Riots, the Brazilian gold mines, gangs in Jamaica, the sex trade in the Philippines, female chain gangs in Arizona, African pygmies, the boy soldiers of the Khmer Rouge, the Cargo Cults of the New Hebrides who worshipped Prince Phillip, and many other ground-breaking stories.

“Through this short documentary, that was born as a pilot for a longer version,” says Caradonna, “ I want to share a glimpse of Colin Jones’s most relevant but less known work, and pay tribute to a great photographer and a wonderful man.”