Corsetiere ( 1961)‘As I was photographing this shop window, a man passing by asked what I was doing. I replied that it was a beautiful window of corsets. He looked me up and down and said “No son, there’s something wrong with you!” and marched off. It was pointless for me to explain that I have a book, A Vision of Paris, with photographs by Atget and words by Proust that contained a wonderful image of a corset shop. No matter what explanation might have been offered, his only thought was “No, son, there is something wrong with you!”’

Photograph: John Claridge