David Steen,considered one of the great Fleet Street photographers of his time, has died aged 79.
His archive chronicles a who’s who of cultural stars from the 1960s onwards.
Steen began his career as a 15-year-old on Picture Post working with Bert Hardy as his assistant (the two are pictured below).
He returned to Picture Post after national service, based in Egypt and covering conflict zones, before moving to Woman’s Sunday Mirror. There, he won first prize in Encyclopaedia Britannica’s best pictures of the year – at the age of 21 – for images of a woman delivering her own baby under hypnosis.
He then worked as a staff photographer on the Daily Mail before going freelance.
His website biography says: “Trained on the maxim ‘every picture tells a story’ he has focused on film stars, actors, criminals, politicians, prime ministers and countless men, women and children going about their everyday lives.
“Asked by aspiring photographers for his best advice, his stock reply is: ‘Get up early.’”
A funeral service will be held at 12.30pm on Thursday 3 December at St Mary's Church, Oatlands Avenue, Weybridge, Surrey, KT13 9TS.
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