Obituary by Paul Stewart & David Ofield
Stuart Goodman one of the best loved photographers on Fleet Street has sadly died aged 72 as a result of contracting Covid-19. He had been an inpatient at Norwich hospital for four days having previously being diagnosed with cancer before succumbing to the virus.
Stuart was both a photographer and a desk man working for agencies and national titles. He worked for titles as diverse as the Swansea Evening Post, The Guardian, The Daily Mail and the Independent as a photographer and as a desk man on the Daily Star, Evening News and Evening Standard.
Harvey Mann, former Picture Editor of the Daily Mail, said of Stuart, “He was a nice, nice man, and he would always go the extra mile to get the picture I needed for the paper”
David Ofield former Picture Editor of the Evening Standard said “I had the privilege to work with Stuart at both the London News Service/ Sport & General , Daily Star and Evening Standard, he was passionate about photography and was always happy to pass on his skills and knowledge to young photographers”
As a picture editor, he was best known as the night picture editor of the Evening Standard a job he did for over seven years. He was particularly known for his ability to spot talented young photographers ,and many of Fleet Street’s finest owe their first break to Stuart. All the photographers who worked for him, found him to be a calming influence when things were going “Pear Shaped”.
Standard photographer Alex Lentati said “Such sad news … I’ve never forgotten how Stuart helped me out and showed me the ropes when I started at ES way back in ‘87. Always a calming voice on the phone… A truly kind and gentle man”.
After he left the Standard, the Goodman family left London for Norfolk and Stuart worked there as a freelance and Studied for an MA in Photography at Norwich School of Art, where he also taught photography. He originally studied to be a teacher in Swansea and always claimed to have deliberately failed his exams, so he could pursue photography and music. When asked why he never got his teacher training certificate he would quip “I failed needlework”.
Stuart’s two great passions in life were photography and music and he was a talented Jazz trumpeter, who played in an early incarnation of the National Youth Jazz Orchestra, combining these two,resulted in his first published picture, one of the NYJO in rehearsal.
Above – Stuart’s book ONE SATURDAY IN 82 ON BROADWAY MARKET preserves images of an East London landmark that has changed from desolation row to one of London’s trendiest markets.
In the past Stuart was a resident of Broadway Market in Hackney and when the GLC wanted to demolish the street, he was instrumental in setting up the Broadway Market Action Group which successfully campaigned and saved the area from the bulldozers. At this time he produced an archive of work, which has recently been published by ‘Own It’ titled “One Saturday in 82 on Broadway Market” published last month and sadly Stuart got the first copies back on the day of his cancer diagnosis. The book launch was already postponed, but his family plan to have this and a celebration of his life, when the situation permits.
In a tribute, an ‘Own It’ spokesperson said: “We first met Stuart in 2018 and were delighted to welcome him into the ‘Own It’ family. His candid black and white photography immediately spoke to us and we had the privilege of publishing his book, ‘One Saturday in 82 on Broadway Marke’ two weeks ago. We are so thankful that Stuart got to hold his finished book and experience the great amount of support and love the book has received.”
Photographer Paul Stewart had a running joke about his two heart attacks. The second was very serious. At the time Paul was working for the British Journal of Photography and the then Editor asked him to write an obit ‘just in case’. Paul said “From the moment it was written, he thankfully started getting better and was soon discharged from hospital. The editor demanded I keep it up to date as a preventative, sadly it didn’t work this time, 32 years later.”
Stuart is survived by his wife Annie, daughter Joanna and son Adam.