Jack Manwaring

Fleet
Street picture desks mourned the death of veteran nationals
photographer Jack Manwaring just before Christmas. Jack, who retired to
Deal in Kent in 1986, died aged 90 at Margate Hospital.

Jack’s interest in photography began in his young days when an aunt bought him a box Brownie camera as a present.

From
there on he was hooked on photography, though he probably did not
realise at that stage it was to become his means of earning a living.

After
experimenting with the camera, he initially got a job for 17s 6d a week
as a darkroom assistant. Then he started a photographic business in
London’s Hampstead and began his newspaper career, supplying
photographs to the Ham & High.

As he became more experienced
he also began supplying photographs to papers such as the Daily
Graphic, Empire News and Daily Sketch.

After a brief spell away
from photography he returned to Fleet Street in 1975 after an approach
from the Daily Mail. From then until he retired he worked on a
freelance basis at London’s Royal Courts of Justice providing picture
coverage of those involved in High Court and Appeal Court cases.

In
addition to covering for the Daily Mail he also provided a service for
the Daily Express and The Daily Telegraph and, to a lesser extent to
other papers, magazines and agencies.

He was a life member of the
NUJ and during his time at the High Court was the only photographer
ever to be made chairman of the High Court Journalists Association.

He
leaves his widow, Anne, who he met many years ago when she was picture
desk secretary on the Daily Mail and who he finally married in 1990.

Roger
Pearson, head of High Court agency, UK Law News, worked for many years
with Jack and said: “He was always the absolute professional, but in a
completely different photographic era to the one we know today.

“Whereas
today we see nothing but snappers sticking massive lenses in people’s
faces, in those days the approach was completely different.

“Jack
and the others who worked at the courts used what they called ‘Mickey
Mouse’ cameras – small compacts – dressed in business suits and, as far
as possible, took their pictures in a way that the subjects often
didn’t know they had been photographed.

“Their whole idea was to
be as unobtrusive as possible. Jack always used a baby Olympus, which
by today’s standards would be regarded as ‘state of the ark’ photo
technology. Yet his pictures appeared regularly throughout the national
media both in this country and abroad.

“With Jack we see not just
the loss of a great friend and a photographer, but another step to the
end of the era of what could be described as ‘gentlemen photographers’.
Jack really was the true professional and the true gentleman.”

Topics in this article : NUJ