Beyond the Celebrity Age

The real age of the Celebrity began in the mid 1950's. After two decades of political and economic gravity, rationing and diligence the Celebrity offered the world a change of tempo. After the pre-war Hollywood the public were hungry for something lighter, sexier and more daring.

Into this backdrop came Terry O'Neill's (b. 1938) first job: snapping celebrities at a London airport for a newspaper, and by chance he became a teenage reporter. He was polite, always asking for the permission before taking the shot, unlike the photojournalist of our day. He was harmless and the celebrities knew the publishers wanted beautiful shots so were not worried about where the image might be shown.

O'Neill soon went freelance and was an instant success. He had learnt that giving a compliment ensured a great photograph and gained the trust of many celebrities from Brigitte Bardot to Frank Sinatra. Even the Royal family and politicians commissioned him for their portraits.

The quintessential image of the age began with Brigitte Bardot - the hair swept across the face, the averted gaze. This was a new approach so removed from the formal, stylised studio portraits from early Hollywood. Moving away from the fabricated icons of the 1920's and 30's, the age of the celebrity (as opposed to the age of the star) offered a new icon. The idolised and removed icon of the 1950's was a super real being, immortal and deified.

Terry O'Neill was there in the heyday of this time and became a master of portraying the climate but offered it in a sensitive, respectful and sometimes playful manner.

As we enter the end of the Celebrity age, faced with too many charlatans who devalue the term, we still find in the work of Terry O'Neill the peak of the era, the epitome of the dream which, in its death, captures us as much today as when it first arrived in the mid 1950's.

Sharon Boothroyd