FAREWELL TO DAVID WILKEY As a mark of respect WSM have changed our Update date from 13th to 15th September. The 15th September is the funeral date for our friend and colleague David Wilkey.
Whenever David and I got together, there was always one item of re-occurring conversion. Which business commenced first? Usually on WSM's birthday, we refer to our start date as 3rd December 1981with our first sale. I guess we had a spirit of mutual satisfaction that we had both entered the WAM market as pioneers in the early 80's. Despite some intense conversations we did not establish when David entered the market.
Many of you will gasp, as there was no Wet and Messy material regularly published pre 1980. And as we had no internet it was very difficult to find customers. Did David with Artscene and myself with WSM exchange addresses? No we did not. Why? Because we acknowledged a code of personal behaviour to our customers' privacy (which still exists). So we both foraged the world for customers, but as solo ventures. But always we fought on the same side to spread WAM to the world.
But hopefully our businesses may now merge, as WSM were in the process of being appointed by David Wilkey to re-release the videos from Artscene and Aquantics, which had been withdrawn from sale for at least a couple of years since the closure of his websites. I would hope that by our next Update on 27th September, we can confirm this aspiration for the benefit of all WAM fans. Which websites did David have? Artaqua.co.uk Aquadisiac.co.uk Seemewet.net Wamretro.com
But what did David Wilkey mean to me? He was an inspired colleague whose initial forte was expressed in Wetlook, which later expanded across WAM with a series of videos and images. But I guess he will be forever known as the man who did not feature a sole girl but at times multiple girls in a scene. But images reveal the man and the artistry, so I show a few images of David's work to acquaint you better with him. We concentrate on his beloved Wet images with shots of: Chloe, Claire Louise, Jay, Lou, Mirrel and Pam.
Which shot do I like best? Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. Having worked with Mirrel in the WSM Vintage Film 5 'Another Fine Mess', I do like her wet pic and her black underwear shot on a stormy day almost certainly at Tenby. David did shoot the occasional mud set. Having been cameraman for the WSM Vintage Film 9 'Sex WSM', he wisely persuaded Shakina to do a muddy shoot for him.
Finally, we have a paint shot from one of his movies.
So we say farewell to our talented, artistic friend David Wilkey. A WAM innovator and pioneer. Long may he be remembered.