The Sunday Times Magazine, December 19th, 2021
It was a privilege having your picture taken by Tom. He was quiet and unassuming, but of course you knew about his incredible track record and the work he had done over decades, from war zones to intimate pictures of public figures. He would never boast about them, indeed, you had to drag the stories out of him. Tom had an extraordinary ability to capture the moment, whether it was following you for a day as prime minister through all sorts of situations, from trips to Afghanistan to the rigours of the campaign trail, or taking a more formal portrait. He once caught Florence sitting in my prime ministerial red box in the Downing Street flat (after I had disastrously cut her fringe) - and looking at the picture always makes me laugh. I feel very spoilt to have such an album of Tom’s pictures from her early years, whether in a baby sling while I am making a phone call, or at Chequers, or what was her home for the first six years of her life, 10 Downing Street. Some photographers seem to need to get in your face (and therefore get in the way). Not Tom. When he captured images of team meetings in No 10, or my first meeting with Barack Obama in the cloisters of parliament, you hardly knew he was there.
The photograph he took of our family sitting on a sofa in our home in London, when I was leader of the opposition is one of my most treasured possessions. It hangs on our bedroom wall - and in the age-old cliché of '“which one possession would you rescue in a fire?”, it would be this. Our son Ivan was profoundly disabled, frequently racked with seizures and needed calm around him. Tom was gentle and thoughtful - and managed to get this wonderful image as Ivan and I looked into each other’s eyes, with Elwen shouting, Nancy in Cinderella dress holding a balloon and Samantha radiating calm control. For me it sums the warmth, love and chaos of our early family life. And it reminds me that, for all the struggles of bringing up a very disabled child, his years with us were a blessing that we will never forget. Of course there are always the pictures in your mind’s eye - and fortunately they never fade - but Tom’s black-and-white image brings everything back so vividly and completely.
David Cameron, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 2010 - 2016. Tom spent 6 years following the Prime Minister around the world and domestically at home.
Don McCullin photographed at dawn near Hadrian's Wall in Northumberland. McCullin is internationally known as a photojournalist and recognised as one of the world's greatest photographers of war and urban strife. In recent years McCullin has turned away from conflict and concentrated on landscape and still-life images. Northumberland 2009.
A supporter at ANC rally in South Africa peer from behind a sign bearing the image of their President Nelson Mandela. South Africa 1994.
Lady Diana Spencer is startled after stalling her new red Mini Metro outside her Earls Court flat in London just days before her engagement to Prince Charles was announced in London 1980.
His Holiness the Dalai Lama photographed during a visit to London 1989.
Couples kiss in front of Russian painter Dimitri Vladimiorvich Vrubel's most famous work known as 'My God, help me to survive this deadly love' on a section of the former Berlin Wall at the East Side Gallery in Berlin. At Midnight on November 9th, 1989, East Germany's Communist rulers ordered the gates along the Berlin Wall to be opened and thousands of jubilant people surged through to be met by cheering West Berliners on the other side of the 45km barrier dividing the city. Berlin 2014.
Peroni Campaign, a reenactment of the Italian Classic film La Dolce Vita. South Africa 2006.
Gordon Banks, OBE (born 30 December 1937) is a retired English football goalkeeper. Banks was in the England team that won the 1966 World Cup. In March 2004 Pelé listed Banks as one of the 125 greatest living footballers. His most famous moment occurred in the 1970 World Cup against Brazil, where he pulled off a great save from a goalbound header from Pelé. Banks' consistent performances in goal led to the re-wording of a common English idiom to "Safe as the Banks of England". London 2010.
Formula 1 racing driver Jenson Button. London 2010.
Mikhail Gorbachev pictured with his wife Raisa during an official visit to London, when the Soviet politician spent five hours in 'very friendly' talks with British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher at Chequers.
News Corporation Chairman and CEO Rupert Murdoch photographed in his office at News International in Wapping, London, during his interview with writer Eric Pooley about his bid to buy the Wall Street Journal. June 2007.
A member of the London Royal Ballet in rehearsal. London 1998.
US Marine Corps Recruit Depot. Every year thousands of young American women from all areas and ethnic backgrounds swap their heels and mascara for fatigues and an M-16 rifle, in a bid to join the ranks of the Marine Corps – the elite of the US military - each dreaming of becoming a “devil dog”, the nickname marines relish. The women gradually come to respect, even adore their drill instructors. South Carolina, USA 1998.
A French soldier passes an abandoned child on the airport road near Goma, Zaire. The boy was one of the one million people who fled from Rwanda to avoid the bloody ethnic fighting of 1994.
A Bosnian muslim girl studies the Koran by candlelight during the 47 month long siege of Sarajevo, 1994.
In 1990 Albania freed itself from the shackles of years of hard-line Communist government. The ruthless dictator Enver Hoxha had isolated Albania from the rest of the world and made its people the poorest in Europe. A malnourished and sick small girl is comforted by her mother in Durres 1991.
Natalia Makarova, principle ballerina with the Kirov ballet on stage in her last London performance of Swan Lake, London 1989.
In the 1950s Mao Zedong decided that sporting success was important to bring international glory and prestige to China. Each year thousands of children, some as young as four, are enrolled in the schools and begin the harsh training regimes designed to turn them into Olympic winners. Wuhan, China, 1993.
Fashion designer Ozwald Boateng posing in front of statues of economist Adam Smith and John Locke at the Royal Academy of Arts in London. Boateng is credited for reviving interest in the craft of tailoring and fashionable handmade British suits produced in his Saville Row shop. London 2009.
An Uncle Sam street performer takes a break at Coney Island during Fourth of July celebrations. New York City 2003.
A junior ballroom dancing competition in the Tower Ballroom. Blackpool is the most popular coastal resort in the UK and has been attracting millions of working class holiday makers for over 150 years. United Kingdom 2000.
A Rohingya girl collects firewood in a forest near the Kutupalong refugee camp at Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh. She is one of hundreds of thousands of Rohingya people who escaped from Myanmar into Bangladesh after the military burnt their vilages and committed atrocities against civilians. Bangladesh 2018.
A husband massages his wife’s aching feet during a walk in a park near the Eiffel Tower. Paris is the most romantic city in the world. France 2001.
Black gold...An oil worker at an Exxon Mobil rig, at Kome. The pipeline will carry oil from the land-locked oil fields of Chad through the jungles of Cameroon to the Gulf of Guinea. The 660 mile Exxon Mobil pipeline cost $3.5 billion and will carry 225,000 barrels of oil a day to a marine terminal for export. Chad 2002.
An affectionate kiss for a couple before the start of the annual London Naked Bike Ride. 1000 riders decorate their bodies and bikes with messages of protest against oil dependency and car culture and ride nude through London's streets 2007.
Visitors enjoying Blackpool's seafront views. United Kingdom 2000.
British Prime Minister David Cameron pauses to take a phone call from his Downing Street office during a Saturday morning walk with baby daughter Florence at Chequers, United Kingdom 2011.
David and Samantha Cameron pictured at their London home with children, Nancy, Arthur and Ivan. The family photograph was used by the Conservative Party leader on his 2008 Christmas card. Mr Cameron is pictured holding 6 year old Ivan who was severely disabled with epilepsy and cerebral palsy, and who died on February 25 2009.
A portrait of the Right Honorable David Cameron MP, leader of the Conservative Party. London 2010.
Conservative Party leader David Cameron strolls with Barack Obama through the historic House of Commons cloisters after the two held private talks during a visit by the US politician to the British parliament in London 2008.
Prime Minister David Cameron's daughter Florence photographed after clambering into his Ministerial Red Box in the apartment above 11 Downing Street, where they lived with their 3 children. London 2011.
Mikhail Gorbachev in front of the Hofdi House in Reykjavik, during a return visit to Iceland in October 2006. Twenty years earlier the leaders of the USSR and USA met at the height of the Cold War to resolve the nuclear arms race that threatened the safety of the entire world. General Secretary Mikhail Gorbachev and President Ronald Reagan faced each other across a table in the Hofdi House. The meetings over two days were tense, but gradually the two leaders formed a unique and important personal relationship that ultimately formed the basis for massive reductions in nuclear weapons and made the world a safer place. It was the beginning of the opening up of the Soviet Union.
Her Majesty Queen Rania Al Abdullah of Jordan at the Ragadan Palace in Amman, Jordan 2002.