Barry Paton, Early Days - Where To Start

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Barry Paton, Early Days – Where To Start

Early days 1963- 1978 By Fiona Alderman

Where to start ? At the beginning really. Barry was the youngest son of Mary Irene Osgood and Robert Paton, with an elder brother Grant. Grant inspired Barry’s interest in photography from an early age. In 2002 Barry wrote a piece about this for the website tvcameramen.com

“Way back in the mists of time, when I was about 8 or 9 years old, I saw my elder brother develop some negatives in the bathroom with a green pygmy bulb. I was stunned and amazed that an image came out of that piece of film that he had put in the camera only hours before. From that moment on, I was hooked on photography. I went on with my life going through school and getting a job etc without realizing that photography and film was my ambition. I joined the army when I was just a youth and took photographs then without knowing how to develop film. (They had a photographic unit there so I made use of that) After discharge from Her Majesty’s Service (for medical reasons , not mental, as some have suggested ) I was just run over by a tank ! I then decided to do a course at The Royal Academy of Music and Dramatic Art in Glasgow. The course I did was a newly founded one in Stage and TV Management. The Academy had just built a TV studio at that time ( did I fall in love – or not ) and somehow, I knew where I was going. I became a cameraman. Several years later, and many disasters with money. I learned my trade. Or so I thought I had, however, made tea and coffee for the best in the business, watched how shadows fell, listened to background noises, loaded film, yes, film. Clapped a lot and sometimes got to look down the view finder. WOW! “

The Covenanters and The Grant Educational Company

Barry’s family is an interesting one too – with a direct link to Captain John Paton of the Covenanters, and all his history in Scotland. I believe his sword is in a museum in Kilmarnock.

The Grant Educational Company was founded by Donald Grant , Barry’s grandfather . When he died his son Robert took it over for many years. A publishing business with agencies in London, Glasgow and Vancouver, it was also a popular bookseller in Union Street in Glasgow. I even went for my schoolbooks there in the early 70’s. Barry took some photos of this building , which I still have.

His mother , Mary, was an accomplished painter, poet and illustrator. I have some of her sketch books and paintings here in France.

Mary Paton Barry’s Mother

One of the children’s books the Company published was called “The Songs The Letters Sing ” – a charming first books to teach vocabulary and simple sentences, These books were illustrated by Margaret W Tarrant in 1958. They were distributed

all over the world, and strangely , or not, when Barry went on a filming job to Pakistan in 1994 , he found one of these little books in a bazaar in Lahore and brought it back for me.