“Every photo taken becomes a piece of history, a split second that will never be repeated– it defines that moment in time. Years later, it tells us what people looked like, how they dressed, where they were and maybe even how they felt. The years come off– everyone is younger, the dead are alive again and the world becomes a simpler place.” Michael Hudson

“The best thing about a picture is that it never changes, even when the people in it do.” Andy Warhol

“I’ve always known I’d be a photographer... and it’s still the only job I’ve ever had. It’s opened a lot of doors for me to photograph royalty, presidents, rock stars, athletes, CEO’s and thousands of ‘normal’ people. Prints of my fine art images hang on collectors’ walls and my books are found on coffee tables around the world. But after more than 35 years, I’m grateful to be a survivor. This is a tough business to be in.

“But I’m sometimes asked– after all these years, what’s the most interesting thing you’ve ever photographed? And I have to go back– way back– to a time before I turned professional for the answer. Back forty years ago to the 1980’s when I photographed the Royal Family, before I was ever paid to be a photographer, when I took photos for the pure enjoyment of it. I’ve never experienced anything quite like it since.

“The images in these galleries are from a simpler time– the days of film photography and manual focus cameras, before the internet, social media and before digital cameras and smartphones made photography so much easier– and disposable. Back to the days when the Princess of Wales was regularly on the front page of every British newspaper, when William and Harry were both little boys, when a phone was something that sat on your desk or hung on your wall, and when you shared photos by passing prints around to friends, not with strangers on a website. Times have changed more than anyone born since the age of the internet can ever imagine. But fortunately, these images can remind again us of a time that once was… but is now no longer.”

Michael Hudson, artist-photographer