Terry O'Neill

What made Terry O'Neill different was something you can't really teach: he understood that famous people were still just people.

O'Neill recognized that youth culture was the breaking news story of the 60s. He was shooting The Beatles and The Stones when they were just getting started, which meant he began at the top and captured them before they fully understood they'd become legends.

His style was informal and spontaneous at a time when celebrity photography was wooden and prefabricated. The rising stars of the 60s didn't want stiff studio portraits-they wanted to look relaxed and natural, and O'Neill got that instinctively.

But here's the real secret: O'Neill forged genuine personal connections with his subjects that transcended the typical photographer-celebrity relationship. He wasn't starstruck, he was genuinely interested in people. His humble approach captured authentic images of people often treated as commodities by their industries. Many of his subjects became actual friends-Frank Sinatra kept him as a personal photographer for over 30 years with unprecedented access.

His photographs captured subjects candidly or in unconventional settings, bringing intimacy and spontaneity to portraiture. He shot behind the scenes, outside the controlled studio environment, catching people with their guards down. That Faye Dunaway Oscar morning photo? They were together, so she trusted him in that vulnerable, exhausted moment.

He never lost the sense of timing and rhythm that the best photographers possess, probably from his jazz drumming dreams. He cultivated relationships rooted in trust, dignity, and respect, and that's what you see in every frame: people being themselves, not performing for the camera.