Interview
Press photographer Mike Maloney talks about his amazing career
Born and raised in Lincoln, Mike Maloney says his love of photography began when he received a Kodak 127 camera from his parents for his 10th
birthday. In his teens he went to work as a tea boy for The Lincolnshire Chronicle, but it wasn’t long before his enthusiasm for photography gained him more attention than his tea-making…
So how did the tea boy become a photographer?
The Head of Advertising at The Chronicle said, “I see
something very good in you. I think you’d be very good in advertising.” So I went home and told mum and dad. Dad said, “No, no, none of that nonsense. You want an apprenticeship,” because that was the logic in the 1960s. So I went into the print side as a compositor, a linotype operator, which was very fortuitous, because I was still taking pictures at the same time. I was then able to go to an editor and say, “Look at these photographs, what do you think of them?” I learnt very quickly, to the extent that in the end they were commissioning me to take major pictures, instead of their own staff photographers. What was your first proper photography job for The Lincolnshire Chronicle? It was a commission in 1967 to take pictures of the Boy Scouts’ parade at Lincoln Cathedral, and I was paid ten shillings and sixpence for it! It was used as a big picture, four columns by eight inches. Was that your mind made up then, that you were going to be a photographer? Absolutely, yes, because I loved it. I loved the whole business about it.
How long did you remain at
The Chronicle? Well, the editor, who loved my work and was commissioning me, got into trouble with the unions, because I wasn’t NUJ (National Union of Journalists). I was NGA (National Graphical Association). To cut a long story short, I left The Chronicle and joined a magazine that was run by the editor of The Chronicle after he left. It was called Lincolnshire Pride. It was a glossy monthly. So I joined them, but it all went pear-shaped because the guy who put the money in pulled the money out again. I then asked the Managing Director of The
Chronicle if I could get a job on the staff as a photographer. He said: “We don’t think you’re up to it, son.” So I left Lincoln in 1971, went to London and joined The Evening News. What was your introduction to royalty? That’s a good question. I worked on The Evening News as a junior photographer, freelance. In those days I used to wear bow ties. On this particular morning there was a staff photographer called Ken Towner in the office. The paper’s editor came in, a wonderful guy called Don Bodie. He said to the picture editor, “We’ve got the rota for the Queen today at the Palace where she is presenting awards to the brave policeman who prevented Princess Anne from being shot.” It was the man who jumped out onto The Mall in front of Princess Anne when she was in a car and started shooting. James Beeton was the officer. The editor said: “Who are you sending?” The picture editor said, “Well, I was going to send Ken Towner.” The editor looked at Ken Towner, who was in jeans and an open-necked shirt, and said: “You’re not sending him. Who’s that guy, smartly dressed with the bow tie? Send him!”
So a bow tie got you to the Palace. What happened after that? I went down into the Queen’s lounge where the presentation was taking place. James Beeton was there with his wife and children, and his little girl puts her hand up and says, “Excuse me Your Majesty.” Now, you’re not supposed to ask the Queen questions, and she rocked. I was shooting with a Rolleiflex and got one frame where I have captured the Queen rocking, with just the light from the window. A cracking shot. I took it back, and from the reaction, you’d have thought I’d won the Pools. The editor came out: “What a brilliant picture, what a shame we
can’t have it just to ourselves!” The
Evening News was part of The Daily Mail and they ran it as a spread. It won my first international award, which was third place in the World Press Photo in Amsterdam. That was my very first royal photograph. Since then, many more awards have come your way. What were the main changes you noticed coming from a local paper to a Fleet Street paper? It was a totally different world. I loved life in Lincoln, and I was taking pictures I really enjoyed. I never wanted to leave, but when I was told I couldn’t join
The Chronicle, there weren’t any openings. I had no alternative other than to move to London, which was a big step for a provincial boy. But as soon as I got into the showbiz, I loved it. It was all champagne and caviar in those days. What was the kit you were using back then? When I started at The Evening
News, the guys were still using plate cameras. This was 1971, and at this time the plate cameras were going out and the Rolleiflexes and Mamiyas were coming in. If you were really top notch, you had a Nikon F, but in those days there was a vast difference between a 2¼-inch negative and a 35mm one.
I was known for my quality, so for a presentation at Buckingham Palace or Number 10 I would always bring a Rollei and a flash. Photojournalism would require the Nikon F, so you would preordain the way you were going to operate according to the given job. How long was it before everyone was using 35mm? I would say two years. It was an amazing transformation. The old boys were still with 5x4, a lot had Rolleis, and they used to say to me when I was off to London, “Listen, son, you can operate your first year at Fleet Street with a Rolleiflex, it will cover everything.” I used to do sport with it. You didn’t have motor drives in the early 1970s, they came in about 1974, but by 1975 everyone was shooting 35mm. What other Nikon cameras did you work with? Well, I did the whole spectrum of Nikon. The evolution of Nikon was amazing, because I went from the Nikon F to the Nikkormat, which was a great camera. The Nikon F
As soon as I got into the showbiz, I loved it. It was all champagne and caviar in those days
Mike Maloney Press photographer
There was just something about the Nikon F and the 50mm f/1.4 Nikkor and the 35mm f/2 that was special
Mike Maloney Press photographer
was always the workhorse camera, though. You could drop it, bounce it. I remember being in Belfast with mine, diving to the ground to avoid a sniper’s bullet – smashed the head, made a big indentation in the pentaprism. I looked through it and it’d gone all crazy paving, but it still took great pictures. During your film days what was your favourite Nikon? The Nikon F, without a doubt. The Nikon F fitted into my hand like a glove. I still have my Fs. I’ve got three. It was a futuristic camera that produced great results. There was just something about the F and the 50mm f/1.4 Nikkor and the 35mm f/2 that was special. What would you choose as your desert island lens? I’d choose the 300mm f/2.8. It would be followed closely by a 50mm f/1.4, but the 300mm f/2.8 was groundbreaking. On royal assignments, it was a take-anywhere lens. It was a massive piece of glass. It was so sharp. I think it came out in the 1980s, but the fact you could use 300mm at f/2.8 meant the bokeh was sensational. Why did the 300mm help you so much for royal assignments? Well, invariably for royal assignments you’re not close to a member of the royal family, you’re standing back. This was long before 600mm lenses. If I wanted to do an expression shot in the early days, a 100mm wouldn’t cut the mustard, but a 300mm would, so you could still get the expression, and because the optics were so great it was pin sharp. I used to like working at f/4. Let’s fast forward: when did you first work digitally? I had the very first digital camera at
The Daily Mirror. Nikon were in bed with Kodak at that time and it was one megapixel and it cost a fortune, something like £23,000! It was like the early mobile phones, with one big heavy massive battery with the phone on top. But look at the cameras now, which I love. I collect them all, I must have about a hundred cameras.
Which is your favourite Nikon camera now? My favourite camera is the new Nikon Coolpix 900. I tested it for Nikon and said, “I’ve got the perfect operation for it, I’m going to India for six weeks and I’ll be photographing the Bengal tigers in Ranthambhore, and I’ll be at the Taj Mahal.” Do you remember the 2000mm lens?
Yes, it’s a very heavy mirror lens… When it came out there were three in the UK: Nikon had one, the Ministry of Defence had one, and I had one – on loan, of course. It cost more than £20,000. I took the lens to the South of France to photograph Princess Diana. I had it on the beach at St Tropez on a great big tripod and you could see Diana in the distance on a boat – you couldn’t see her with the naked eye. It was perfect for that situation, but it wasn’t manoeuvrable – you couldn’t just sling it over your shoulder. Fast forward now to the Coolpix P900 and it’s got a 24-2000mm lens built-in, and it’s retailing at £500 or £600! The quality is so good. Can you recall a favourite moment from a royal assignment? I propose Diana. She was a kindergarten teacher then. The way newspapers operate is that we get tipped-off by the staff at the Palace. The paper in those days paid the staff retainers that were more than their salary. That’s how I got the famous pictures of the Queen on the beach at Holkham in Norfolk with the corgies [see page 102], and all the tourists walking past taking no notice of her. Was that the occasion when she was walking on the beach with the Queen Mother? Correct. Nobody took any notice; I found that staggering. Now, with Diana – we called her Lady Di – the editor was tipped-off one day. I’d come back from photographing her at kindergarten and the editor called me over: “I need a panoramic shot of Coleherne Court”. This was where Diana lived with her flat mates. It was in The Boltons in London, and she was in the first floor flat in the corner room. The editor wanted a panoramic shot of the whole of this Georgian building. He said: “We’ve been tipped-off that Diana Spencer is going to be the next queen of England, so I’m running it on page one tomorrow, and a spread.”
So, I shoot back down to Coleherne Court. It’s now 2.30 or three o’clock in the afternoon. I set up a tripod and did a panoramic, 180 degrees. While I’m taking the pictures a voice behind me said: “Oh, you still here?”
It was her? “Oh, hello Lady Di.” I said: “Sorry I’m here, but I tell you what we’re doing: we’re going to run the story tomorrow about you being the next queen of England.” She went scarlet and smiled. She said: “What are you going to say?”
I said: “Well, this is what…” and she said, “No, don’t say anything. Would you like a cup of tea?”
I said, “I’d love one because I’ve missed my lunch doing this, but I don’t know any cafés around here.”
She said, “No, come up to the apartment, but I have to ask you,
Do you remember the 2000mm lens? Nikon had one, the Ministry of Defence had one, and I had one – on loan, of course
Mike Maloney Press photographer