John ‘Hoppy’ Hopkins rose to fame in the 1960s after he left his job as a nuclear physicicist and moved to London to become a photographer. He found himself at the centre of London’s burgeoning underground scene and his photographs of the people, bands and styles of the ‘swinging Sixties’ have become legendary. His subjects ranged from the Rolling Stones and the Beatles to Thelonius Monk, from Martin Luther King and Malcolm X to Allen Ginsburg. At the same time he also captured the seedier side of the Sixties with his photographs of bikers, tattoo parlours and prostitutes. On the day that ‘Sergeant Pepper’ was released Hoppy was arrested for possession of marijuana and spent much of 1967’s ‘Summer of Love’ in jail, sparking a famous campaign for the liberalisation of Britain’s drug laws.

Strangely, it’s only now at the age of 70 that the first book of Hoppy’s photographs has been published. Lee Jeans, whose premium Gold Label collection was inspired by the photographer’s images of bikers and rockers, have worked together with Hoppy and publishers Damiani to release a book of his shots from the 60s entitled ‘From the Hip’. The book is available now so check it out if you want to see more of Hoppy’s work.