What do Richard Branson, Pamela Anderson, Clint Eastwood, Joan Collins and the McCartneys have in common? They’ve all been photographed by Dennis Stone, Heathrow airport’s official photographer.
Today marks the 64th anniversary of 78-year-old Dennis’s first day at Heathrow, and BAA is marking the occasion by surprising 5,000 airport visitors with a copy of ‘A Life At The Airport: A Heathrow Photographer’, a commemorative book of his pictures.
We’ve got a copy of the book to give away to one lucky reader – see the bottom of the page for details.
Richard Branson and Pamela Anderson
Dennis says: This was a promotional trip to New York to celebrate Virgin’s 20th birthday. The photographers disembarked first so we could take shots of Richard with the celebrity he’d recruited for the occasion. I liked the fact she put Richard’s hat on as it’s all co-ordinated. I’ve taken pictures of Richard in so many uniforms now; he’s a great dresser upper.
Joan Collins
Dennis says: I once shot Joan flying out somewhere and the Coronation Street actors, William Tarmey and Elizabeth Dawn – who play Jack and Vera Duckworth – were coincidentally going to the same place to film a commercial. They were on the buggy and I said, ‘Can I get picture of all three of you?’ They said ‘Yeah come on!’ Joan appeared in a special episode with them in Coronation Street too.
Clint Eastwood
Dennis says: This has to be more than 20 years old. I tried to photograph Clint about five years ago, and he was walking around with someone who was the spit of him. I went to shoot the other bloke and someone said, ‘No, that’s not him! There he is!’ But by that time he’d gone into the lounge. Some stars have friends who will come out and say they’re coming out in 10 minutes when really they’ve gone already. We have very few back doors though, so it’s pretty hard to get past us.
Paul McCartney and family
Dennis says: Paul didn’t mind his kids being photographed in the early days. This is in the BOAC era when they’d disembark planes onto the tarmac. Paul’s always been very pleasant to me and Linda was lovely too. This must be in the late 1970s. Paul’s a great family man and would travel a lot with them.
Win a copy of A Life At The Airport
‘A Life At The Airport: A Heathrow Photographer’ features Dennis’s favourite photographs, plus his memories of meeting stars from Princess Diana to Frank Sinatra.
Travel Weekly has a copy of the book to give away – just answer this question to be in with a chance:
How old would Dennis have been on his first day at Heathrow?
a) 14
b) 18
c) 20
Email your answer to nathan.midgley@travelweekly.co.uk, including your name, address, agency name and contact telephone number. Please include ‘Dennis Stone competition’ in the subject line of your email.
The closing date is Friday August 20.
Terms and conditions: No entries will be accepted after the closing date. Travel Weekly will select one correct entry at random. No alternative prize will be offered. The prize will be sent within 28 days.