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Back in 1960, it never occurred to me that I could have a career as a photographer. I wanted to be a musician. When I
started working for British Airways as a technical photographer, it was with the intention of becoming an air steward so I
could fly to New York and be a jazz drummer. The job was interesting though, and it entailed going to art school once a
week. We were given a homework assignment to take pictures of emotion. I went across to Heathrow airport with my
Agfa Silette to capture people saying goodbye and crying. I shot a picture of the then Home Secretary, Rab Butler, asleep
among a crowd of African chieftans. The editor at the [now defunct] Dispatch saw the shot and hired me to work at the
airport every Saturday. In the old days, there was only one terminal and it was packed with people, including all the
celebrities. I started working with the guy on the Daily Sketch who was hanging out with all the stars like Sophia Loren. I
covered the airport for him so he could go off to the film sets. After a couple of months he died in a plane crash. I was
offered his job and that was the start of my career.I did early shots of The Beatles and the Rolling Stones working for the
Daily Sketch, and picked up photography along the way. I asked questions about lenses and effects and I just did it. Sixties
London was so exciting. Every day I was doing something new - Mary Quant one day, Jean Shrimpton the next. And for
once, we had the say. It was the poor people from the East End taking over from the toffs in the West End. People took
us seriously.
In a way, photographers like myself, David Bailey, Terence Donovan and Brian Duffy, created the Sixties. It wasn't just who
we were shooting, but the way we shot them. I was using 35mm, which was a whole new approach. Before that, portraits
were done in studios using special lighting and hoods, which took a long time to set up. 35mm film brought a whole new
candid look to photography because you could carry your camera around, and you had 36 shots on a roll.
I didn't realise the impact of my work at the time. None of the Sixties stars took themselves seriously either. I used to
hang out with all the rock 'n' rollers and the models at the Ad Lib Club. Mick Jagger joked about still singing at 40 - I mean
he's 67 now! We honestly thought we'd have to get proper jobs. I was going to work in a bank, and Ringo Starr was
going to do the same.
©Terry O'Neill All rights reserved
As one of my first assignments I photographed a new, upcoming band…The Beatles at Abbey Road recording studios!
This shot was the first time a pop group appeared on the front page of a British national newspaper. And the newspaper
sold out.
Jean Shrimpton and Terence Stamp, London, 1963. This image established actor Stamp and Shrimpton, the first
supermodel, as the icons of the Swinging 60s. They were new, young and fresh – that was what the Sixties was all about.
Frank Sinatra on the boardwalk, Miami, 1968. This picture was taken on the first day of filming, as Frank walked from his
hotel The Fontainebleu, to the set of The Lady in Cement. This was the first time I ever saw Frank and I was astonished
how the power of his presence mesmerized onlookers as he walked casually by.
Brigitte Bardot, Spain, 1971. During rehearsals for The
Legend of Frenchie King, I noticed that when the wind
gusted there was the potential for a great picture. When
the time came, I only had one frame left – one shot at it.
Suddenly the wind swept her hair across her face, and it
was a knock-out.
Audrey Hepburn with dove, St Tropez, 1967. I was taking
some portraits of Audrey on the set of Two for the Road
when out of nowhere this dove landed on her shoulder. I
was lucky to capture a couple of frames before it flew off.
Kate Moss, London, 1993. Another girl, like Naomi Campbell, who couldn't look bad
on camera if she went six weeks without sleep and got dragged through a hedge
backwards every day. Certain models like Kate just seem to hypnotise the lens. She
can turn on every emotion for the camera from joy to rage and nail the shot. She's
that rare type of woman, like Raquel Welch, who just knows what the camera wants.
The Rolling Stones Tin Pan Alley, London, 1963. After his success with The Beatles,
emerging 60s pop groups clamoured to be photographed by O'Neill. One was called
The Rolling Stones. But newspapers regarded the Stones as too ugly for publication.
One however famously used Terry’s photograph alongside another of The Dave
Clark Five and headlined it ‘Beauty and the Beast’.
Faye Dunaway, Los Angeles, 1977. No image better captures both the allure and
the loneliness of celebrity than this, of Faye Dunaway [Terry’s future wife] the
morning after the night she won her Oscar for Network. I wanted to capture a look of
dazed confusion, the state of utter shock that Oscar winners enter when it dawns on
them that their lives and bankability have changed forever.
David Bowie, Diamond Dogs, London, 1974. Taken as a publicity
shoot for Diamond Dogs. I started to shoot with the dog sitting
quietly beside Bowie. But suddenly the Great Dane got over
excited and reared six feet into the air barking madly. This
terrified the life out of everyone in the studio, except Bowie who
didn’t even flinch.