Terry O'Neill and Ekaterina Volkova
On September 12, the legendary British photographer Terry O'Neill came to Moscow, where he attended dinner at Kalina Bar and opened personal exhibition"Stars and Luminaries" in Stoleshnikov Lane as part of the Summer Museum "brand:ff".
Terry O'Neill is a witness to key events in the world of music and cinema from the sixties of the last century to the beginning of the 21st century. O'Neill's career began in 1959, when at Heathrow Airport, while filming for British Airways, he accidentally photographed a man sleeping on the floor. It turned out to be the British Home Secretary. Within a few days, Daily Sketch invited a twenty-year-old photographer to photograph the strange four musicians - doomed to become the legend of The Beatles. The editor was very impressed with the result, and he asked Terry to find another up-and-coming band for the front page, and O'Neal brought his friends from the Rolling Stones...
Today, the master’s archive contains more than a million photographs. He observed the moments of triumph, quiet joy, reflection or sadness of the greatest stars - Audrey Hepburn, Brigitte Bardot, Elizabeth Taylor, Frank Sinatra, Elvis Presley, Sean Connery, Elton John, Dustin Hoffman, Clint Eastwood, Jack Nicholson, Michael Caine, Paul Newman . It should be easier to name who Terry O'Neill didn't film.
The creator of the stellar history of the 20th century himself loves to remember the heroes of his works. At an evening in the Kalina Bar, which Irina Khakamada, Victoria Daineko, Konstantin Gaidai, Ekaterina Volkova, Yulia Milner, O'Neil could not miss, happily immersed himself in memories of how he took this or that shot. The portraits exhibited in the Kalina Bar Terry brought them specially, and they were not included in the main exhibition in Stoleshnikov.
Russian celebrities did not miss the opportunity to take pictures with the father of celebrity photography, and when they left the establishment, the organizers presented the guests with a memorable photo.
Yesterday O'Neill took part in a press conference, which was held in a specially erected tent right in the middle of Stoleshnikov, and then looked at his work with journalists.
He said that when he pointed the lens at the unsurpassed, in his opinion, beauty Audrey Hepburn, a dove sat on her shoulder. Another time, the master “caught” the producer’s dog next to Brigitte Bardot, who was sleeping between filming. One of his favorite shots is with a gorgeous blonde: a cigarette is clutched between her lips, a strand of hair has fallen onto her face...
It was the “stopped” beautiful moments and divine accidents that made O’Neill who he is. And the photographer is not sure that he would have achieved this in our time:
When I was working, there were people like Paul Newman and Clark Gable, special people. It was a completely different time... Now everything is different: girls and men are not the same, all around is complete falsehood and photoshop. Modern stars are different people, their true faces are hidden behind dark glasses, and agents and producers dictate what to do, what to think and how to look. Previously, I saw texture in faces, now I see only artificiality.
All that remains is to thank fate and Terry O'Neill himself, who captured another era for us.
Irina Khakamada with the work that made O'Neill famous
Andrey Zhitinkin
Victoria Dayneko
Vlad Lisovets
Vitaly Kozak
Vladimir Vishnevsky
Fedor Pavlov-Andrievich and Stas Namin
Success came to Terry O'Neill unexpectedly: in 1959, in the form of a man sleeping on the floor of Heathrow Airport, who turned out to be the English Home Secretary, whom he accidentally caught in the lens of his camera.
Terry was born in London. He came of age in the early 60s, when the fame of actors, singers, artists and famous athletes became a truly iconic, boundless and global phenomenon. In general, O’Neill dreamed of becoming a drummer in a jazz band since childhood, and therefore, when he heard about the legendary technique of American drummers, he decided to learn it in the USA. Expensive air tickets almost put his dream in jeopardy, but Terry does not give up and decides to become a steward of the British national airline and fly to America as long as it takes to complete the music course. Unfortunately, there were no available vacancies in that company, and he was offered the position of assistant photographer in the technical department. And that’s how Terry ends up with a miniature Agfa Sillette in his hands and he begins to explore all the airport terminals to find interesting characters for his photographs.
And then, by an amazing coincidence, the same gentleman sleeping in the waiting room falls into the lens of his camera, who turned out to be very important person. That photo ends up on the cover of the Sunday Dispatch, and the editor invites the aspiring photographer to regularly photograph for their publication.
So Terry O'Neill became the youngest photojournalist on Fleet Street and received unprecedented access to all the iconic
celebrities of the 60s.
In his first year as a staff photographer, O'Neill was lucky enough to take his very first official photograph. famous Beatles. But at that time, the Fab Four only dreamed of fame, and Terry went on assignment from the editor of the Daily Sketch to photograph just a new musical group from northern England, as he then thought. The photo shoot took place in the studio courtyard Abbey Road.
At that time these guys were unknown to anyone. “They were 20, I was 20 - we didn’t understand what we were doing at all. But time put everything in its place.”
That same year, Terry also took the famous photograph of Winston Churchill’s last public appearance, as he left the hospital with his ever-present cigar in his hands.
And a little later, almost all the most famous figures of our time became the heroes of his same 35 mm lens. Terry has collaborated with magazines such as Rolling Stone, Paris Match, Vogue, Life and Look.
This famous work of O'Neal shows his future wife, Faye Dunaway, the morning after she received her Oscar. “After the awards ceremony, I woke up at five in the morning, went down to the pool and quickly prepared everything - a statuette, piles of newspapers with photographs of her triumph. And a couple of hours later she herself, fresh and sparkling from sleep, came downstairs in a luxurious peignoir and settled down on one of the chairs. I took a candid morning photo."
Terry was married to Faye Dunaway for quite a long time. She even bore him a son.
About the Rolling Stones:
This is a photograph of the Rolling Stones' first televised performance. I don't have a favorite Beatle, but my favorite member of the Rolling Stones has always been Keith Richards.
About David Bowie:
I shot it for the Diamond Dogs album. The dog lay calmly at his feet throughout the filming, but when we finished, she suddenly jumped up. I was lucky that I didn’t have time to put the camera down. This photo was eventually used for the album.
About Brigitte Bardot:
She was the most beautiful girl of its time. Even then she was distinguished by her love for animals. Before I saw her for the first time, I thought that she should be small and fragile, but it turned out that she was even taller than me. If this girl spoke even a little English, she would have a great career in world cinema.
About Raquel Welch:
She was just preparing to film a film where she would have to wear such a bikini. She asked: “Do you think I’ll be crucified if I’m photographed wearing this?” It was 1968 and I said, “Great idea, let’s crucify you!” The photo lay in the archives until last year, when I finally decided to publish it.
About Frank Sinatra:
We were on friendly terms and I did great amount his photographs, but, unlike many celebrities, Sinatra did not pay any attention to me, completely concentrating on his own preparations for concerts, trusting my instincts as a photographer and giving me unlimited creative freedom.
According to Terry O’Neill, during his life he photographed everyone he wanted.
Success came to Terry O'Neill unexpectedly: in 1959, in the form of a man sleeping on the floor of Heathrow Airport, who turned out to be the English Home Secretary, whom he accidentally caught in the lens of his camera. And despite the fact that the main models famous photographer became movie and music stars, in fact, photographs were produced not with famous personalities or luminaries, but with ordinary people, whose “ordinariness”, nevertheless, you certainly wanted to see for yourself.
It always seemed to me that planning the nuances of a photo shoot in advance was pointless. Interesting, truly unusual photographs are born spontaneously and, as a rule, do not require any specific preparation. This is a brief moment of unplanned perfection, the right turn of the head, a breath of wind, the angle of sunlight, natural color combinations. I have always, throughout my life, preferred a very small camera and, thanks to this, I did not stand out from the crowd. The stars often forgot about my presence and behaved extremely naturally. The size of my camera made me look more like a friend trying to take an informal photo as a souvenir. This is exactly what I wanted, this was the main trick of my craft.
Terry was born in London. He came of age in the early 60s, when the fame of actors, singers, artists and famous athletes became a truly iconic, boundless and global phenomenon. In general, O’Neill dreamed of becoming a drummer in a jazz band since childhood, and therefore, when he heard about the legendary technique of American drummers, he decided to learn it in the USA. But expensive air tickets almost put his dream in jeopardy, but Terry does not give up and decides to become a steward of the British national airline and fly to America as long as it takes to complete the music course. But unfortunately, there were no available vacancies in that company, and he was offered the position of assistant photographer in technical. department And that’s how Terry ends up with a miniature Agfa Sillette in his hands and he begins to explore all the airport terminals to find interesting characters for his photographs.
And by an amazing coincidence, the same gentleman sleeping in the waiting room, who turned out to be a very important person, gets into the lens of his camera. That photo ends up on the cover of the Sunday Dispatch, and the editor invites the aspiring photographer to regularly photograph for their publication.
This made Terry O'Neill the youngest photographer on Fleet Street and gave him unprecedented access to all the iconic celebrities of the 60s. It was during that golden time that he discovered his incredible ability to take photographs in the reportage genre, extremely easily and as if casually, as if he had had a camera in his hand since birth. Terry's style would soon become recognizable, and most young photography fans would begin to shoot in his spontaneous and completely new style for the 60s.
Already in his first year as a staff photographer, O'Neill was lucky enough to take the very first official photograph of the famous Beatles. But at that time, the Fab Four only dreamed of fame, and Terry went on assignment from the editor of the Daily Sketch to photograph just a new musical group from northern England, as he then thought. The photo shoot took place in the courtyard of the Abbey Road studio.
At that time these guys were unknown to anyone. They were 20, I was 20 – we didn’t even understand what we were doing. But time has put everything in its place.
That same year, Terry also took the famous photograph of Winston Churchill's last public appearance. When he left the hospital with his constant cigar in his hands.
And a little later, Rod Stewart, Brigitte Bardot, Frank Sinatra, David Bowie, Kate Moss, Audrey Hepburn, Elvis Presley and many other famous figures of our time became the heroes of his same 35 mm lens. Terry has collaborated with magazines such as Rolling Stone, Paris Match, Vogue, Life and Look.
All best pictures happen by chance. On this shoot I ran out of film and had one last shot left. I stood and waited, as if I had some kind of premonition, and suddenly a strong wind blew. A strand of hair fell into her eyes and I took this shot. One of the best in my life in general, I think.
- O’Neill comments famous photograph Brigitte Bardot with hair covering her face.
Terry O’Neill owed many of his photographs to his personal acquaintance with the stars: for example, Lee Marvin agreed to be photographed if Terry had a drink with him beforehand, and in one of the most famous works O'Neal - his future wife, Faye Dunaway, the morning after receiving her Academy Award. 
After the awards ceremony, I woke up at five in the morning, went down to the pool and quickly prepared everything - the statuette, piles of newspapers with photographs of her triumph. And a couple of hours later she herself, fresh and sparkling from sleep, came downstairs in a luxurious peignoir and settled down on one of the chairs. I took a candid morning photo.
About the Rolling Stones:
This is a photograph of the Rolling Stones' first televised performance. I don't have a favorite Beatle, but my favorite member of the Rolling Stones has always been Keith Richards.
About David Bowie:
I shot it for the Diamond Dogs album. The dog lay calmly at his feet throughout the filming, but when we finished, she suddenly jumped up. I was lucky that I didn’t have time to put the camera down. This photo was eventually used for the album.
About Brigitte Bardot:
she was the most beautiful girl of her time. Even then she was distinguished by her love for animals. Before I saw her for the first time, I thought that she should be small and fragile, but it turned out that she was even taller than me. If this girl spoke even a little English, she would have a great career in world cinema.
About Raquel Welch:
She was just preparing to film a film where she would have to wear such a bikini. She asked: “Do you think I’ll be crucified if I’m photographed wearing this?” It was 1968 and I said, “Great idea, let’s crucify you!” The photo lay in the archives until last year, when I finally decided to publish it.
About Frank Sinatra:
We were on friendly terms, and I took a huge number of photographs of him, but, unlike many celebrities, Sinatra did not pay any attention to me, concentrating entirely on his own preparations for concerts, trusting my instincts as a photographer and giving me unlimited creative freedom.
For quite a long time, Terry was married to Faye Dunaway, who even bore him a son.
O'Neill never used digital technologies, because he “hates them.”
For me, this is not photography, but simply automation. The essence of photography is in the moment, and it goes far beyond pressing the button at the right time.
Mario Testino is not bad, but most of the great photographers are already dead. However, I’m next in line.
- this is how Terry speaks about modern photographers.
According to Terry O’Neill, during his life he photographed everyone he wanted.
A retrospective selection of photographs of Terry O'Neill by Diego Alonso for an exhibition at Mondo Galeria shows the range of work of this author, who, from the 60s to the present day, photographs young talents from the world of music, Hollywood stars, models and other inhabitants of “multi-star” hotels.
Terry O'Neill's career began with an unexpected twist of fate. He was planning to go to the United States and become a musician there, but he accidentally photographed the British Foreign Secretary at London airport, who had fallen asleep while waiting for a plane. The newspaper purchased this photograph from him, and, as they say, “wrap it up...”.
Terry O'Neill's personal style is determined by two things. This is the use of a light and compact 35 mm camera and the time he spends with his subjects, essentially becoming their “shadow” for the whole day, or even for several days. The result is that natural, direct and seemingly “random” style that has characterized the author throughout his career.
From the Beatles to Kate Moss
O'Neill was the first to photograph musical groups. It was he who took the first photographs of the Beatles and the Rolling Stones, later publishing them in the press. Thus, he recalls that the first published photograph of the Fab Four was taken by him in 1963, in the courtyard of the legendary Abbey Road Studio. This was his first “portrait” of a pop group, and the first time such a photograph was published on the front page of a newspaper. By the way, this issue sold out very quickly :)
Living in London in the 60s, the photographer watched from the inside as this city became the capital of world culture and fashion. At this time, he met with the Rolling Stones, with models such as Jean Shrimpton or Mary Quant, with such actors as Michael Caine and Julie Christie, and formed close friendships with Ringo Starr. This is the beginning of Terry's career, full of various adventures and anecdotal situations.
He could photograph every supermodel, from Shrimpton to Naomi Campbell or Kate Moss, and such beautiful actresses as Ava Gardner, Raquel Welch and Goldie Hawn. However, among all the female legends, he certainly singles out Audrey Hepburn: “She was the most unusual “star” of all that I photographed, perfect and beautiful. It was simply impossible to film it badly! There are no people like Audrey now and there never will be,” says the photographer.
Spontaneity
Terry O'Neill has witnessed many unique moments. He photographed Marlene Dietrich during her last concert in Europe, and Romy Schneider two months before her death. In his interviews, O'Neal says that the best thing that happened to him in his life was filming Frank Sinatra for thirty years. Sinatra allowed the photographer to follow him everywhere, ignoring his presence. “It's the best thing you can do for a photographer,” says Terry. “I could go with him wherever he went, whenever I wanted him, and film whatever I wanted. That kind of spontaneity works absolutely great.” However, despite all these years spent together, they never became friends. His role remained that of an observer, since distance and respectful attitude needed for this job.
Another major figure was Elton John, whom Terry photographed for over forty years. To some extent, O'Neill helped Elton at the start of his career. The photographer's musical background and his photographs of the Beatles and the Rolling Stones have earned him a reputation as a "talent discoverer." When Terry heard the songs “Take me to the pilot” and “7-11-70,” he liked them so much that he wanted to photograph the artist. The photograph was published by Vogue magazine, which served as a “springboard” for Elton John’s career.
But besides musicians and beautiful women, many legends and men have passed in front of O’Neill’s lens. Among many others, one can name Steve McQueen, Al Pacino, Robert Redford and Paul Newman.
He is the only photographer to have photographed all the James Bond actors, among whom he singles out Sean Connery as “the most masculine person whose portrait I have photographed.”
According to O'Neill, the three main rules for a great photographer are: remain invisible (not conspicuous), have patience and be able to combine prudence with contact. All this brought him undeniable success in obtaining his spontaneous photographs from the point of view of the “witness, standing nearby“For example, he took the last official portrait of Nelson Mandela in 2008, or the official photograph at the World Cup in Brazil in 2014, where Pele came out with the World Cup.
Terry O'Neill, the creator of visual myths of the 20th century, through whose eyes we now, without realizing it, look into the past, yesterday opened his own exhibition in the halls of ROSPHOTO
He began his career as a photographer in London in the 60s, photographing his peers the Beatles, Rolling Stones, David Bowie and the colorful characters of swinging London. He soon became a photographer of the starry Olympus, which now more closely resembles a pantheon: Audrey Hepburn, Brigitte Bardot, Marlene Dietrich, Sean Connery, Sophia Loren, Elvis Presley, Elizabeth II, Margaret Thatcher - they all belonged to Terry O'Neill just as they once did. then Paris belonged to Hemingway.
Terry O'Neal was the eyes of a bygone era. Heroic Westerns are no longer made, tough fighters like Muhammad Ali or Lee Marvin are no more, the Rolling Stones will never be young again, and black will never be as black as Frank Sinatra's shadow on stage When asked about contemporary photographers that he likes, Terry O'Neill replied: “Mario Testino is not bad, but most of the great photographers are already dead. However, I’m next in line.” He admits that he photographed everyone he wanted, which means he is definitely destined for a place of honor in Valhalla for photographers.
At the opening of the exhibition, Terry O'Neill shared with us some secrets and valuable memories.
I don't use digital technology because I hate it. For me, this is not photography, but simply automation. The essence of photography is in the moment, and it goes far beyond pressing the button at the right time.
The key to success as a photographer is to remain invisible. I've met so many famous people, and after ten minutes of filming, they'd forget I was in the room and let me into their true lives. For many people this lasted for years and decades.
Beatles:This is my first real job. In 1963, the Beatles were a young group that no one knew yet.I was two years older, which allowed me to look down on them a little. This was the first pop photograph; no one had done anything like this before.
Rolling Stones:This is a photograph of the Rolling Stones' first televised performance. I don't have a favorite Beatle, but my favorite member of the Rolling Stones has always been Keith Richards.
David Bowie: I shot him for the Diamond Dogs album. The dog lay calmly at his feet throughout the filming, but when we finished, she suddenly jumped up. I was lucky that I didn’t have time to put the camera down. This photo was eventually used for the album.
Brigitte Bardot: she was the most beautiful girl of her time.Even then she was distinguished by her love for animals.Before I saw her for the first time, I thought that she should be small and fragile, but it turned out that she was even taller than me. If this girl spoke even a little English, she would have a great career in world cinema.
Raquel Welsh was just getting ready to film a film where she had to wear this. She asked: “Do you think I’ll be crucified if I’m photographed wearing this?” It was 1968 and I said, “Great idea, let’s crucify you!” The photo lay in the archives until last year, when I finally decided to publish it.
The exhibition "Stars and Luminaries of Terry O'Neill" will be on display at (Bolshaya Morskaya, 35) until May 29, 2011 with the support of Renaissance Credit.
Loading...