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Robin Bryant... - part 2 of 1 2 3 4 5

Published 01/10/2001

But worse was to follow! Having taken pictures of the now Lady Thatcher opening the bazaar and the usual tour of the stalls. I was then ushered into a room where she was enjoying tea and biscuits. Beside myself, there were only two Salvation Army officers in the room. Little did Mrs Thatcher know that I was a rookie, having moved to London and Salvation Army Headquarters from the outback of sleepy East Anglia just three days before!

Not knowing my embryonic knowledge of this big Salvation Army, she quite understandably started asking me questions about the work of the Army, it's internationalism, it's principles - I tell you, my uniform could have been rung out after that encounter, for I was perspiring buckets!

That -being plunged in at the deep end - should have indicated what was to follow for me many, many times over in this last quarter of a century.

Opportunities to meet royalty, politicians and the stars of TV and stage have all been taken in my stride. Many have been the times when waiting for such a celebrity to arrive, the adrenaline has been pumping, and I have had to remind myself that if I treat this like any ordinary job, keeping calm, refusing to get aggitated or stressed, then the likelihood is I would take better pictures than if I were tense or worried.

Book covers, record covers, CD covers, marketing leaflets, brochures, booklets, published books, and of course the weekly editions of The War Cry and Salvationist all invariably require illustrative pictures, reportage photography, portraits, or some other form of photographic input. It is amazing the wide and varied types and styles of work demanded. However, learning, studying, and experience gave me confidence when faced with such diversity.

I have numerous anecdotes, which make for interesting evenings when I am called upon to speak of my experiences. One such is the occasion when HRH Princess Anne was opening one of the Army's complexes in Edinburgh.

In those days, when you were placed on the Royal Rota, you were given a dos and don'ts lecture from the Royal press secretary: 'you will not take pictures of HRH in any compromising position. Should there be an unscheduled occurrence, in the interests of decorum, tact, and sheer good taste, you will refrain from taking any such pictures as will show HRH in anything other than his or her best'. This, if not verbatim, was the gist of it.

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1st Published 01/10/2001
last update 09/12/2022 14:52:01

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