When men were blokes

Ever since David Steen joined Picture Post at the age of 15 he’s been photographing celebrities. This handsome collection of male portraits shows his range. At one end of the spectrum is the cheesy picture of Steven Spielberg with his foot in the mouth of an inflatable rubber shark. At the other, there is the poignant picture of Augustus John in the year before he died, his head bent over clasped hands as though in prayer, alone in the breakfast room of a provincial hotel, in chilly grey natural light. For the former, Steen flew to Los Angeles (even though Spielberg could only give him an hour) and scouted for props. The latter he got by seren- dipity when, in 1960, he just happened to be staying in the same hotel as John. A quickly snatched opportunity, but the outcome is a tellingly composed picture.

Steen, as he tells us in the chatty notes that accompany these pictures, was an autograph-hunting boy who hung around stage doors, and as an adult he adored the fact that his chosen work brought him into regular contact with the immensely famous.