1385939: 4 year old Jermaine B. Jermaine Briffa faces up to Punch and Judy, 1992

1385829: Mrs Thatcher getting her hands dirty on an election tour in Cornwall, May 1983

1385975: 29 December 2002: Gone West.. Brighton's Grade 1 listed West Pier Collapses into the sea.

1386071: Soldier and penguin on a beach in the Falkland Islands in 1983

1385831: Amish Children in Conewango Valley, New York State, USA, in 1989.

1479728: David Bowie , 1973

Exclusive! Roger Bamber: out of the ordinary

Twice British Photographer of the Year; twice News Photographer of the Year

TopFoto is now the outright owner of the late Roger Bamber’s photographic archive, a photographer whose career spanned the golden age of photojournalism continuing into the 21st Century.

2015 marked Roger Bamber’s 50th year as a leading photojournalist.  He landed his first Fleet Street job on the day he arrived in London with his student portfolio in 1965. In those days the Daily Mail was a broadsheet and they signed him up to cover news and features. He was 20 years old.

Four years later in 1969 he was poached to join the launch team of Rupert Murdoch’s new idea – the tabloid Sun newspaper. He stayed for 19 years, covering war, rock and pop, hard news and features all over the world.

The tabloid formula eventually became too constricting. In 1988 he left to go freelance and worked for The Independent, The Observer and a host of magazines. But most importantly he became a regular contributor to The Guardian which showcased his work so regularly that he was awarded an honorary Master of Arts degree from the University of Brighton “for his distinguished photo- journalism and the wealth of images of Brighton inspired by the city”.

His work brought him a clutch of accolades, including twice Photographer of the Year (once for a Sun portfolio and once for a set of Guardian pictures – a double thus far not repeated by anyone else...), twice News Photographer of the Year and he couldn’t remember how many times he’d been Features and Arts Photographer of the Year but knew it was more than 11.

The unifying element in all his work is his distinctive graphic style, wry humour and boundless originality, all of which worked across the broad range of publications he filled with punchy pictures which made people think and look twice.

Just before he died, Roger Bamber finished his fascinating autobiography with a foreword by Eammon McCabe.

Search and download from www.topfoto.co.uk or ask requests@topfoto.co.uk or call + 44 1732 863939 at any time.

VIEW A SELECTION HERE

VIEW ALL ROGER BAMBER HERE

 

1385876: Roger Bamber by Cecil Beaton, 1967, Beaton used Bamber's camera to take his portrait while Bamber was photographing him for a feature.

1385917: Bella the baby elephant at Chessington Zoo in 1970. Her keepers bought bubble kits to amuse her.

1385976: Underwater lessons with Duncan Goodhew

1386152: Pregnant mothers in Brighton learning to relax in ante-natal classes 1991

1387213: Pantomime cow on the cliffs at Beachy Head, near Eastbourne, East Sussex protesting against the suffering of the live cattle and sheep exports, 16 February 1999

1387232: Freddie Mercury of Queen steals the show at Live Aid, Wembley, 1985

PD1479231: Mick Jagger and Jerry Hall on the beach at St Peter's Barbados. 5 December 1983

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