Celeb photography veteran Terry O'Neill displays his iconic shots in Brussels

One of the biggest names in contemporary photography, Terry O'Neill has snapped everyone from the Beatles and the Stones to the British Queen, Nelson Mandela, Amy Winehouse, Brigitte Bardot and every James Bond since Sean Connery. With 14 of his unique pics on display in Brussels, he reflects on an extraordinary 50-year career.

Your first published photo was taken by chance at London Heathrow airport...
I accidentally took pictures of a bloke in a pinstripe suit sitting with African chieftains, and he was dozing off. It turned out to be Rab Butler, who was the Foreign Secretary at the time. I sent the pictures in - the picture editor said: "You've got a good eye. I'd like you to cover the airport every Saturday for me." I was making quite a name for myself, getting pictures of all these people sitting doing their make up, like Petula Clark - all sorts of great pictures.

How did you come to photograph the Beatles?
One day some guy came to find me - Brian Fogarty, the head photographer on The Daily Sketch. He wanted someone to work with. He died three months later - he was flying off to Rome and the plane crashed. The picture editor rang me up and said: "Listen, Brian's dead and we'd like you to take his job." I said: "But I don't know what I'm doing." I was the youngest photographer in Fleet Street by 12 years. On the first morning in the job, the picture editor said: "We've got you in here because we think pop music's going to be big. There's a group down Abbey Road making a record called 'Please Please Me' and I want you to go down and photograph them." I go down there and it's the Beatles. So I started at the top and never looked back.

What people forget was, there were individual singers who were stars then, but nobody had ever seen a pop group. This first picture I took - it's so amateurish but it's the only way I knew how to photograph a group. I just picked up things as I went. You could never split the Beatles - when you did a picture they all jumped in. They had a great sense of humour: they all had gags and jokes.

Why did you choose to focus on showbiz photography?
For three years I was doing crime stories - going down the law courts, doing six or seven jobs a day. I felt newspapers were too cynical for me. I got sent to do a funeral in Croydon. There were 300 people there and I just felt I couldn't go on delving into people's lives and giving nothing back. I said: "I can't do this job any more." The editor was steaming. He said: "You leave here and you're nothing - this paper made you and you'll be finished." That put the fear of God in me. I just rang up every connection I'd made. I've worked hard ever since.

What happened next?
I went from London to Hollywood and I met people like Fred Astaire and Shirley MacLaine and all these movie stars. A group of us used to sit in this club and talk about what would happen when all this was over. We were all convinced we were having this thing for a couple of years and then we'd all have to go and get a proper job. I found that in Hollywood there were the great stills photographers but no one was using 35mm and I'd go round and snap snap snap, and it used to take the others all day. I had a whale of a time.

Can you pick your most memorable shoot?
The work that gave me the most satisfaction was Frank Sinatra. I used to get friendly with the movie stars working on the films with him and Ava Gardner said: "I'll write a letter of introduction for you." I walked on the set, he read the note, smiled and said to the guys with him: "He's with me." For the next three weeks I could go anywhere with him. We barely spoke - I was very young at the time. But I realised at the end of those three weeks what an unbelievable gift he had given me. He was so kind to me and then I worked on-and-off with him for the next 30 years. It was a badge of honour - to work for him you had to be the best, he was a perfectionist, a great man. He would have been 100 this year.

Audrey Hepburn was the best girl I've ever photographed. You could not take a bad picture of her. She made going to work like going into your own family home. She had a warm lovely nature, she wanted everyone to be happy. A very polite, fabulous woman.

What was it like photographing the Queen?
It was the only job I was ever nervous about. I walked in to Sandringham and she immediately put me at ease, just really great. I've got a lot of time for her. I've photographed her three times in all. Later on I realised she spends her life posing for painters or somebody or other. I told a horseracing joke. She loves horses - that's the way to her heart.

And Amy Winehouse?
Just an hour before this picture, she was in The London Clinic undergoing rehab. She got out of bed to sing three numbers for Nelson Mandela's 90th birthday. I had a very short time with her - I was really pleased to have met her. Amy was one of the last people I photographed.

Are you still working today?
Not really. There's nobody I want to photograph any more - you have to want to shoot. There's no point just going through the motions. I've had a great life - I can't complain.

These days the notion of fame has changed. Everyone is taking photos of themselves and posting them on social media. How do you feel about that?
It's just the way of the world today. It makes me happy that people are taking more pictures. I hoped it would make for better photographers but it doesn't seem to be doing that - they're taking good shots of themselves but not anyone else. The selfie is a joke. Even Obama does it. The day the Queen takes a selfie, we're finished.

Terry O'Neill exhibition, until 31 October
BMW Brand Store, Boulevard de Waterloo 23-24, Brussels
Open Monday-Saturday 10.00-18.30

Photos courtesy BMW Brand Store