Comments on: James Jarché — A largely forgotten former London Fleet Street press photographer

By: William Fagan

William Fagan — Sun, 23 Feb 2025 13:04:15 +0000

Lovely article, David. I know David Suchet through The Leica Society and meeting him is always a pleasure. You can discuss anything with him; theatre, literature, religion, history and not just photography. Whatever the subject matter might be, the conversation is always stimulating. I think that on the last occasion I met him, we ended up discussing his film role as Leopold Bloom many years ago in a cinematic version of James Joyce’s Ulysses.

I love that film about David using his grandfather’s Leica. My memory was that one of the Welsh miners saw the photo of his father, taken by Jimmy Jarché, for the first time when David showed it to him. The miner then started to cry. I found that very moving, as it must have been for David, given the familial connections on both sides.

William

By: David A.

David A. — Sat, 22 Feb 2025 20:41:16 +0000

In reply to Don Morley.

Don, thank you for your kind remarks. The documentary was an eye-opener to me as well, Jimmy Jarché’s photographs reveal his virtuosity and understanding of lighting. Remember his wonderful echoing use of shadows in his shot of dancing girls on stage? And the way he captured construction workers taking a lunch break atop the Shell building in London, which would have given today’s ‘… ‘elf and Safety inspectors’ nightmares today.

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Sat, 22 Feb 2025 20:22:44 +0000

In reply to Kathy Davis. Thank you, Kathy. You are precisely the kind of photographer that I was trying to reach.

By: Kathy Davis

Kathy Davis — Sat, 22 Feb 2025 18:35:12 +0000

Thank you for this, and for the link to the Suchet video. Absolutely wonderful. Without your article, I’m quite certain I’d never have a chance to learn about this era, this photographer … and of course, Suchet. Fascinating, immediately involving stuff!

By: Don Morley

Don Morley — Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:39:28 +0000

Nice article David, And one bringing back many happy days for myself as I likewise used to be a Fleet St Photographer and both knew and still have very fond memories of ‘Jimmy Jarch’ (As he was known to us all on THE Street then). What I did not know however until years later was just how good a photographer Jimmy actually was, and that was mostly because so few of we Snappers ever got by-lines in those days and so although we all had great respect for our rivals, it was only after seeing so many of Jimmy’s attributed pictures via Sir David Suchet’s TV programme that I for one thought Wow, Jimmy’s work really was truly exceptional.