Among the best known figures
from the decade, Hoppy photographed The Beatles and The Rolling Stones
Rose Troup Buchanan
The British photographer,
journalist, researcher and political activist John ‘Hoppy’ Hopkins has died.
Hopkins, born on 15 August
1937, died at the age of 78 yesterday.
A Camridge university graduate
with a degree in physics and mathematics, his career took an unexpected turn
when he was given a camera on his graduation in 1957.
Arriving in London Hopkins
became involved in the burgeoning underground arts scene of the 1960s,
photographing many of the musical talents of that generation – including The
Beatles and The Rolling Stones – while also documenting the capital’s seedy
underside.
One of the founder members of
the London Free School in Notting Hill, the creation of which led to the now
world famous Notting Hill Carnival, he established the free news-sheet The Gate
which was a forerunner of influential magazine International Times.
Hopkins was jailed for six
months after being arrested for the possession of cannabis in 1967.
After electing for trial by
jury, and described by the judge as a “pest to society”, a ‘Free Hoppy’
campaign sprang up which culminated in a full-page advert in The Times that
called for changes to the existing laws and was signed by Francis Crick, George
Melly, Jonathan Miller and the Beatles.
In his later years he worked
with the British Arts Council, UNESCO and the Home Office researching the social
uses of video.
He also exhibited macro
photography of flowers as well as collections of images of personalities from
the 1960s.