Shooting stars

Cecil Beaton was the first photographer this century to become a personality in his own right - he was as famous as the people he photographed and the Royal Family almost looked upon him as one of their own. Over five decades, he photographed painters, actors, writers, poets, dancers and photographers - you could say he was the David Bailey of his time.

I first met Beaton in 1967 in the toilets of Vogue studios when I was one of six assistants working for the magazine. I was having a pee when this tall, elegant gentleman came in and stood a few urinals down from me. As nature called on both of us we looked at each other and, realising who he was, I said, meekly, 'I think I've been assigned to be your photographic assistant today, Mr Beaton,' and introduced myself. With a straight face he said, 'I can think of more appropriate places for an introduction, can't you, young man?' My legs were about to give way with embarrassment when he burst out laughing.

The day went well, although he didn't take much interest in the camera equipment or lights but devoted all his energy to his subject, charming them with his wit. That was the only time I worked with the great master.

The next time I ran into him was down at his beautiful home, Reddish House in Wiltshire, where David Bailey was doing a documentary on him for ATV. His house echoed his life, grand but not over the top, impeccable taste in decoration, formal but a little eccentric and a wonderful garden (he loved roses).

Beaton loved the theatre and drawing. When he picked up his first camera, aged 11, it became just another paint brush to him, albeit a mechanical one. As a young man, Beaton was always photographing his sisters Baba and Nancy - experimenting with lighting and different backgrounds. In the National Portrait Gallery show, there's a beautiful portrait of Baba Beaton taken in 1922 which is a quiet and sensitive picture. Baba also features in a classic Beaton picture of the Soapsuds Group at the Living Posters Ball in 1930, which is more like a fashion shot (Beaton was associated with Vogue for most of his career) - three young beauties half hidden by lots of balloons covered with cellophane. The composition is wonderful, and the bright light silhouetting the girls just perfect.

The Thirties must have been an exciting time for Beaton. If he wasn't photographing Pablo Picasso, Jean Cocteau or Coco Chanel in Europe, he was in Hollywood on film sets photographing some of the most glamorous stars such as Gary Cooper or Katherine Hepburn.

By the late Thirties, Beaton had established himself as the most fashionable photographer of his day, but his real break came when he was asked to photograph the wedding of the Duke Of Windsor and Wallis Simpson in 1936. He was apprehensive about the commission, but his worries were unfounded as King George VI and his wife Elizabeth asked him to take a portrait of them, too. Thus began a great relationship with the Royal Family which is unrivalled in the 20th century. The Windsors did for Cecil Beaton what Princess Diana did for Mario Testino. Beaton went on to take some of the most romantic photographs of the Royal household, especially of Queen Elizabeth, The Queen Mother, whose pictures, looking back now, are some of his best.

When war broke out, Beaton became the official photographer for the Ministry Of Defence and was sent to Cairo. His travels included trips to Iran, Iraq, Palestine, Trans-Jordan and Syria. In the exhibition there is a great photograph of the young King Faisal of Iraq (1942) who doesn't look much more than six years old. It is a sharp contrast to his moving picture of a young girl called Eileen Dunne in the Hospital For Sick Children (1940). The world it depicted was a far cry from the glamorous life Beaton had been living, but shows just how adaptable he could be and how sensitive he was.

During the Forties Beaton was also photographing the great and the good. One of the strongest pictures in the show is of the artist Walter Sickert and his wife Helen Lessore (1940) in their garden - a moment frozen in time. It's a fascinating subject and a simple but effective execution. There's also a breathtaking portrait of a young, good-looking Marlon Brando from this time and two images of Vivien Leigh, as Cleopatra and as Anna Karenina in 1947.

One person who had a great effect on Beaton's life was Greta Garbo, who is featured twice in the show. Beaton was one of only two photographers she would allow to shoot her, the other being MGM's official photographer Clarence Sinclair Bull. Garbo and Beaton became very close (some say they had an affair) and Garbo, who sometimes liked to dress as a man, referred to herself as 'Beaton's Boy'.

I think Beaton is one of the 20th century's greatest Romantics. He had his influences (Edward Steichen and Baron de Meyer) but he also influenced other photographers - Irving Penn said that a lot of his own great portraits of the Fifties and Sixties were inspired by Beaton's picture of Quintin Hogg (1944). It is also said that Mario Testino's new campaign for Burberry, shot in California with Kate Moss, was inspired by a wonderful picture he saw of Cecil Beaton in his garden wearing his white hat.