Just Say Hello: The life-changing photography of Duncan Raban
Brighton-based photographer Duncan Raban has moved through life with the grace of a butterfly, allowing the winds to take him where they please. The only thing Raban will insist on is that his camera and joyful spirit come along too. Whether flying out to New York to meet Pelé, sneaking into Live Aid, or visiting children at Great Ormond Street Hospital, Raban arrives with a smile on his face, a lens at the ready and one word on the tip of his tongue: “Hello!”
Being a fellow Brightonian, I was lucky enough to meet up with Raban last week in a Kemp Town café to discuss his extraordinary photography career and sift through some of his proudest material. The most prolific and financially rewarding chapter of Raban’s career stretched through the late 1980s and ’90s. After years of sneaking into gigs to take photographs of musicians on stage, he was lucky enough to spend some time in private shoots with the likes of Tina Turner, The Rolling Stones, Lionel Richie and Bobby Womack.
As a music fanatic, I was naturally eager to hear about his day spent photographing The Rolling Stones at an Irish pub over several pints of Guinness. However, before visiting the topic, I was intrigued to hear that Raban was never particularly passionate about music; performers just happen to be alluring subjects. It would appear that photography and people are Raban’s two principal passions.
After early experimentation with long lenses at Brands Hatch Racing Circuit in Kent, Raban began his career in earnest in sports journalism. “I don’t talk about music,” he told me. “I know nothing about music. Nothing. I’m an odd person. I went to art college, and to cut it short, I got a job in a little football magazine doing layouts. I was a junior designer, but I wanted to be a football photographer.”
When Raban continued to explain how he became a football photographer, it was apparent why he’s been so impactful throughout his career. “I suppose what it is… I think outside the box quite a lot,” Raban continued. “So I said, ‘I could get a photograph of Pelé?’ And they said, ‘Well, how are you going to get to Pelé?’ I said, ‘Well, I don’t know, I guess I’ll just go out and find him.'”
“So I took a week off and flew to New York [where Pelé played for the Cosmos], and I got 40 minutes with Pelé,” he beamed. Above, you can see a photograph of Raban greeting the legendary Brazillian footballer on the day of the shoot.
In 2003, after 25 years of photographing celebrities on stages and football pitches, Raban encountered what he deemed a pivotal moment or a new “chapter” in his life. Raban explained that opportunities have often presented themselves to him through divine intervention, and rather than fly into the wind, he likes to make the most out of every situation.
On that fateful day in 2003, Raban received a phone call that would change his outlook and ultimately trigger his now-famous ‘Just Say Hello’ movement. “I had a phone call from the boss of the children’s hospital on London Great Ormond Street. He said, ‘I really like your stuff, [photography style] making people laugh.’ So I went up to meet him, and he said, ‘I’m going to show you something that’s going to shock you.’ He took me into the hospital, took me upstairs and left me in intensive care for children with heart issues. I saw about 15 children in the queue for a new heart; it really threw me.”
“So the universe completely changed my path and photography,” Raban opined. “It’s almost like the universe went, ‘Right, we’ve trained about with football. We’re gonna take him out of that, drop him into a concert without a pass. Leave him in there for ten years of rock and roll showbiz. Take him out of that, and we’re gonna drop him into Children’s Hospital, and we’re gonna make him a photographer of people laughing.’ So I went in the hospital, saw the children, and I came up with an idea.”
Having spent some time photographing celebrities at high-profile events like the Oscars, Raban felt it was about time he gave ordinary people some red carpet exposure. “I’m thinking, ‘Wouldn’t your mum like to be on that red carpet? Or Mrs. Tompkins down in Eastbourne?’ So I thought, ‘Why don’t we put the cleaners and the nurses on a carpet and turn celebrity on its head?'”
Some of the photographs from Raban’s pioneering work at Great Ormond Street Hospital can be seen in the collection below, but as you can see, this was just the beginning of a movement. With an admirable sense of humanity and a natural talent to extract a smile from the most afflicted souls, Raban has, over the past 20 years, gathered a large portfolio of photographs and videos documenting the lives of those around him.
As the dictum suggests, Raban challenges himself to get out in public and say hello to at least one stranger every day. “I’m a passionate photographer hoping to inspire you to just say hello,” his Facebook page bio reads.
Judging by the many thousands of likes and comments his ‘Just Say Hello’ posts garner, it’s safe to say Raban’s idea has caught on. The movement continues to inspire Raban’s followers and unsuspecting street navigators daily, and it’s our hope these photos can inspire you too. You can see more of Raban’s photography on his website here.
