Photographer to the stars comes to the Wharf

On Tuesday he brings his collection of famous faces to the crowds of Canary Wharf when he launches a collection at Getty Images Gallery at the bottom of One Canada Square.

But it could all have turned out very differently for Terry, who only took up his first photography job as a means to get him a role as a flight attendant.

He said: "I fell into photography really. I was a jazz musician but when I came out of national service rock 'n' roll had come in and I didn't want to play that.

"I went to BOAC at Heathrow to get a job as an air steward, but I found out the easiest way to do that was to work for the company, so took a job in the photographic department.

"I didn't know what I was doing at the beginning to be honest.

"After a couple of months a bloke who was the photographer hot shot of Heathrow found me.

"He had seen a photo I had taken and wanted me to cover when he was busy."

That man was Brian Fogarty of tabloid newspaper the Daily Sketch who was later tragically killed in the Munich Air Disaster of 1958, which also claimed many of the Manchester United team of the time.

Terry took over his role at the Daily Sketch, which saw him introduced to the rich and famous.

He said: "One of the first big jobs I did was The Beatles. It was before they became popular. But the pictures were such a success, the newspaper asked me to go and find the next big thing.

"I had been watching the Rolling Stones and put them in. I took many photos of them over the years. Once the band's manager wanted me to take their photo but I was busy, so he brought them to me.

"I also remember a few of us sitting around joking what Mick (Jagger) would do when his voice goes at 40.

"We never thought they would carry on this long. In fact, we thought it would end soon for all of us."

But Terry - and Mick - carried on and the photographer was credited with creating some of the most iconic images of London in the '60s.

Away from the camera he enjoyed a life with the stars, going on to marry and divorce Faye Dunaway in the '80s.

Among Terry's favourites to work with over the years were the likes of Marianne Faithfull, Paul Newman, Dean Martin and Nelson Mandela.

His career spanned the next three decades, photographing, among others David Bowie, Eric Clapton and Bruce Springsteen, left.

But the man Terry said was the real star was Ol' Blue Eyes.

He said: "Frank Sinatra was fantastic. I worked with him over a period of 30 years. He was the king of them all.

"There's no great singers or actors these days. He would walk into a room and everyone would notice him."

- The Terry O'Neill Collection, Getty Images Gallery, Oct 13-15, FREE, gettyimagesgallery.com, 020 7719 1457, DLR/Jubilee: Canary Wharf