By MICHAEL SOUZA
WAKEFIELD — With this issue, Southern Rhode Island Newspapers says goodbye to one of its own. Photographer Ray Clayton is retiring after nearly 32 years.
A staff photographer since 1976, he’s been here for thousands of issues and hundreds of thousands of photographs.
From the dark room through the digital age, he’s recorded the history of South County for over a generation. For that, we should all be thankful.
Ordinarily he’s a quiet man. While others write the story, his artwork has provided the context. Without him, many times the words would have lost their meaning, his photographs describing the spirit of the event. This time, though, he lets us into his world to meet the man we’ve seen so often but know so little.
“I’m grateful to the people of South County who have allowed me into their lives. I think about that a lot. I’m grateful. I’m impressed with them, and I thank them for allowing me to share myself with them,” he said, reflecting on his career last week.
Throughout it all his philosophy’s been simple and effective. “You never know when something good will happen,” he said.
His life began in Oberlin, Ohio, just southwest of Cleveland, where he was born and raised. Disinterested in pursuing studies at Central State University and with no specific destination in mind, one day he woke up and decided to enlist in the Marines.
“I went there and the office was closed,” he said, “so I walked across the hallway and joined the Navy. That shows about how much direction I had back then.”
He spent the next 4 years, 3 months and 28 days – and he knows it off the top of his head – sailing the world. He didn’t like it, mostly because the Caribbean, although beautiful, as no place to be in the early 1960s.
“When the missile crisis happened I got shipped to Guantanamo Bay. I was on the Wasp. We were part of the blockade,” he said.
To survive the grind he bought a guitar, a book, and taught himself how to play. The Navy also brought him to Newport, and when he was finally discharged he found himself in Narragansett.
“What strikes me now is that it’s so much more built up. South County Commons, Salt Pond Plaza, back then (mid-1960s), there was no traffic in Wakefield.
“The old Narragansett had a downtown back then. The Pier was barroom after barroom, and it was busy. It was the place to go. That was before Gilbane bought it all and ruined it,” he said.
And as for the guitar, he became proficient. “I was good enough to make a living as a musician. I played the east coast and that’s when I met my first wife. She could sing so we formed a folk duo called The Claytons.” And the story gets better. “We played in Boston a lot, a different place every night. We made a decent living. We knew people like Paul Geremia and Chris Smither. They were really good. They’re still at it today,” he said.
“Back then there was something called the Bosstone sound. There were several music companies looking for artists. We were signed by Columbia, so in 1968 we moved out to Los Angeles.”
One would think a Columbia recording contract would be a free pass to riches but the Claytons’ experience was different. “They didn’t know what to do with us so we wound up doing nothing. Two years into a five year deal, we bailed out. They owned us for the next three years but refused to do anything with us. That ended that.”
From Los Angeles they moved to San Francisco and started to settle down. Children were born and the Claytons abandoned the music scene for more consistent work. He also went back to school, where he became engrossed in photography.
By 1975 his studying was ending when he found himself at another historic moment. “I was doing a project for school and President Ford was speaking at the St. Francis Hotel. I was going to shoot it. I was at the rope line but had to leave for a few minutes. When I returned I was 50 feet behind where I was before.
“Then I heard ‘pop’, ‘pop’, ‘pop’. Then everything exploded. It happened so fast it was amazing,’” Clayton said.
It was September 1975 and Sara Jane Moore had just attempted to assassinate the President. Ford was forced into the limousine and it sped away, right in front of Ray. “They went right in front of me. Sara Moore was about 20 feet from where I’d been in the fore line. But if I hadn’t left,” he trailed off.
“But it happened so quickly, I don’t think anyone got any good photographs of what happened. All of mine were a blur. It was all so fast,” Clayton said.
Although he’d spent the last seven years on the west coast, he’d kept in touch with his friends in Wakefield, friends that have lasted a lifetime. “Sometimes they’d send me a copy of the Narragansett Times.
“They had some great art, some excellent photographers. People like Bob Emerson and David Perrotta. The talent, it had never been so high. At one point they were looking for another photographer. I brought my portfolio and was hired on the spot.”
The choice to return was an easy one. “In San Francisco, everyone thinks they’re a photographer,” he joked.
“Back then the paper was run by the Wilson family. We were winning awards all the time. The paper was first class. We were serving the community. People like Danny Dunn, we spent 20 years together. We did some great work back then.”
As for the biggest story he’s ever covered, he doesn’t even hesitate. “Jason Foreman,” he said, reflecting on the tragic case of the five year old from Peace Dale who went missing in 1975, a year before he returned to Rhode Island.
“There were so many volunteers and search parties. It brought everyone in the community together, like nothing else ever before. Everyone cared, everyone came together.”
The case came to a sad and disturbing end in 1982 with the arrest of Michael Woodmansee. “I covered it. Everyone was stunned. Everyone knew him. I’d taken his picture a number of times, he was a theater guy. I used to see him walking down the street. Nobody would have ever thought,” he said.
Twenty five years later it’s still a delicate subject. “That one affected everybody. His father was a part-time policeman. He didn’t take it well, how could he? It was sad,” he said.
Ray’s seen it all – graduations, fairs, everything South County – but it’s sports he enjoys the most. “I like shooting the action and in a lot of ways it’s like life.”
If anything, though, he’s truly enjoyed capturing the intimate. The people, the personalities, the human to human interaction. “The rest of it is just recording.”
The credits are numerous: Rhode Island Photographer of the Year for six consecutive years. New England Photographer of the Year in 1999. Twenty five awards in all, at last count.
For the last 12 years he’s enjoyed life with his wife Marlene. “I couldn’t bee a happier guy. I’m very lucky.” As for the future, there’ll be some deserved time off and maybe some freelance work. He plans on keeping busy.
“It’s been quite a ride,” he said. |
