JOHN “Hoppy” Hopkins was a familiar face of 1960s counterculture, capturing many of the images that defined the era through his camera lens.

The photographer, who died aged 78 in January, snapped everyone from The Beatles to Malcolm X.

He spent much of the 1970s squatting in Prince of Wales Road, Kentish Town, surrounded by dozens of other young creatives involved in political activism as well as the arts scene. 

He was born in Slough but after studying at Cambridge, moved to London: first to Notting Hill then NW5. 

As a photographer he chronicled the lives of beat poets such as Allen Ginsberg and Dartmouth Park-based poet Adrian Mitchell. His pictures, which also featured the realities of daily life, appeared in many national newspapers and music magazines. 

He became involved in many aspects of alternative culture, from the music to drugs, and in 1966 founded the London Free School, which formed the roots of Notting Hill Carnival. 

Also around this time, he helped to launch International Times, an underground magazine that featured an interview with Paul McCartney, who had helped fund the publication. Its launch party at the Roundhouse featured performances from Pink Floyd, who would later become involved in another of Hoppy’s projects, the UFO club, a short-lived but influential psychedelic underground venue. 

Hoppy married his girlfriend Suzy Creamcheese, a former member of Frank Zappa, at St Pancras Town Hall. 

In June 1967, he spent six months in jail for the possession of cannabis which led to the Free Hoppy campaign. 

According to his then neighbour at the Kentish Town squat, Liz Jellinek, it was the sort of place where people moved around often, but didn’t necessarily know each other’s last names. 

She described Hoppy and his friends as “the elite” adding: “He was a proper businessman. Hoppy was absolutely his own master, he was very much the boss.” 

Hoppy was a big believer in democratic media and taught film to others. He worked for the Arts Council and Unesco, and also helped set up the Institute of Arts and Technology in a disused piano factory in Robert Street. 

His 2008 book Shooting From The Hip featured previously unseen pictures of world famous 1960s icons such as Mick Jagger and Pink Floyd. 

Pictured: John ‘Hoppy’ Hopkins, courtesy of Malcom Dickson.