British Council British Council Visual Arts

Raymond Ray-Jones was born in Ashton-under-Lyme, Lancashire. He studied at the Heginbottom School of Art and at the Royal College of Art, London, under Sir Frank Short whose teaching was largely responsible for the excellence of British etchings in the inter-war period. Until 1913 he exhibited as Raymond Jones, later adding Ray for commercial reasons. He was created a fellow of the Royal Society of Painters-Etchers and Engravers. Ray-Jones was a meticulous draughtsman and craftsman as shown in this self portrait of 1910. The self portrait in the Collection had been part of his submission for a scholarship awarded by the British Institute which enabled Ray-Jones to travel and study in Paris. His son, Tony Ray-Jones, was to become a key figure in British photography during the 1960s, producing some of the most iconic images of 'the English' at work and at play, from picnic parties at Glyndebourne to coconut dancers at Bacup, Lancashire.