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Trevor Leighton's got a 'Marks & Spencer theory' about digital photography. He believes it's impossible to buy a bad bottle of wine at M&S.
But he adds that it's impossible to buy a good bottle of wine there too.
"It's the same with digital photography - much of it is just mediocre", he says. "It's getting harder and harder now to pick out individual style.
Recently I saw a magazine picture of Jack Nicholson on a sofa in a hotel. He was smiling. There was nothing wrong with the shot but it was neither good nor bad. I suppose the image was well exposed - but then again with digital capture it's almost impossible to get that wrong.
Long gone are the days when you could pick up a magazine and know instantly that the image you're admiring was shot by Avedon or Bailey or Irving Penn. Apart from the occasional Rankin photograph I just don't see any individualism anymore - and it worries me. It's all too 'instant' and disposable."
It's not just the rest of the digital pack that comes under fire - Leighton is critical of himself in similar measure.
"Somebody once said that after the first twenty years of photography there has been nothing new. I certainly don't think I'm original - and I don't think I have ever seen a picture that is, in the truest sense of the word. I just don't remember seeing an image where I've thought it has taken photography to the next level.
I'm fully digital now but the problem with the technology is that I just don't know what reality is anymore. Every celebrity picture I take gets retouched to oblivion. People look at photographs in a magazine and think; "Oh, she's gorgeous, isn't she?" And I say: "Well actually, I photographed her last week and she's not that great."
He adds: "I've got a huge library of photography books at home and when I look at images taken in the Fifties, Sixties and Seventies, I know at least they are honest. There's just something pleasingly authentic about a guy like Cartier-Bresson waiting for someone to jump over a puddle. Whereas these days you can just put the puddle in yourself. I think photographers generally used to have more commitment."
London-based Leighton (51) has never sought fame or fortune. He's never had the slightest desire to ply his trade in L.A, New York - or anywhere else but the UK. But fame tapped him on the shoulder regardless - and for many years he has been one of the world's best-loved celebrity, portrait and beauty photographers.
Two hundred and thirty six of his photographs bask resplendent in the archives at London's National Portrait Gallery, including iconic images of some of the world's most famous 'A-Listers'; Quentin Crisp, Sir Peter Ustinov, Kingsley Amis, Dame Peggy Ashcroft, Sean Connery, Tom Jones and John Hurt, to name-drop a few.
Notwithstanding that, Leighton is a modest man: "I'm dyslexic, so don't ever send me an email. If you do, all you'll get is a one word response. I just see everything in pictures." But he's garnered huge respect for both his art and passion from clients and from those who sit for his camera.
Last year, once again his images were a cut above the rest at the glittering British Hairdresser of the Year Awards. Working with the Trevor Sorbie team, his images picked up the major honours. In fact when Leighton sent Sorbie his invoice, the hairdresser instructed his accounts department to add œ1,000 to the bill as a reward for the 'true passion and commitment' he had put into the job.
"I love doing close-in beauty shoots" Leighton enthuses, "And the hair shots are no different. Hair photography is all about shine, shine, shine. And if nothing else, I am an expert at 'shine'.
The thing about both hair and beauty photography is that the girl is absolutely vital. The way she looks is crucial. If you have a really great model and not very good hair you can still win - but if you have really good hair and an average model, you won't win. People are always going to look at the model's face."
He continues: "For me a good hair picture is like a pie. The model is the filling, the make-up artist is the gravy, the photographer is the pastry on top and the styling adds the seasoning. When they all come together it tastes delicious - but if one of those ingredients is off, then it fails. You have to have the best ingredients your budget will allow."
Leighton, whose love for photography started at eight years old when he spent countless hours snapping 'pretend' pictures with his Dad's empty camera, now works extensively for Hello! and other leading magazines and supplements, including Vogue, Tatler and Marie Claire. He covered superstar footballer Michael Owen's wedding for Hello!, and insists that his large fee was hard-earned. "I started at 7am and never stopped all day. There was a lot of stress and Hello! definitely got value for money with that shoot."
He used to play guitar in a Seventies punk rock band too - but realised that wasn't a good place to be when one night a band member decided to urinate all over the stage. "We were playing a couple of gigs at a club in Newcastle called The Mayfair", he recalls. "But that incident did it for me. Fortuitously, above the club was a photo studio and I managed to talk the owner into giving me an assistant's job.
Then in 1980 I moved to London and opened a studio in Kensington Church Street with another photographer, Nick Powell. That ran for 15 years and enabled me to win portrait work from various Women's magazines. My first commission was to photograph Nigel Dempster and my second, Norman Parkinson at the NPG."
Leighton doesn't miss having his own studio. "These days I hire space at The Worx in Fulham, and I'm probably there three or four times a week. One of the main reasons I use them is because Calumet is there, which means everything I'll ever need is on hand.
In the Leighton bag will be his trusty 1Ds Mk III, a 135 fixed-lens, a few prime and zoom lenses - and that's about it. "I remember what Norman Parkinson once told me about kit. He said: 'You can use 35mm to create mood with a fashion shoot. If you want sharpness and technical supremacy, then use Hasselblad'. I'm all about mood and passion so now I use the 1Ds Mk III. I don't need lots of lenses. If I want to get close I just step forward.
With my beauty shots I'm always looking at the eyes. They tell you everything."
