Portrait of a top newspaper lensman

One photographer who often courted danger in his unquenchable thirst for unique news pictures was Doncaster-born John Varley, whose work spanned five decades.

The idea of images illustrating news stories arrived in the mid-19th century and was made possible by innovations in printing techniques.

Starting in 1842, the Illustrated London News was the first weekly illustrated newspaper, its illustrations being printed with the use of engravings. The Crimean War provided an opportunity for the newspaper to pioneer early photojournalism, when photographs were used to enhance text rather than to act as vehicle of information.

Progress was greatly assisted by the invention of flash powder in 1887, providing photographers with the opportunity to take indoor subjects. Reproducing half-tone photographs on printing presses running at full speed was widely possible by 1897.

Further flexibility for photographers occurred with the development of the 35mm camera in 1925 and the use of flash bulbs from around 1927.

Using all the latest photographic techniques Mr Varley captured war and peace, love and hate, sporting triumphs and showbiz stars. In 1979 he won the World Press Foundation’s ‘Golden Eye’ Award.

An interest in photography was sparked at an early age when a neighbour, working for a Doncaster Press agency, took a picture of him posing with his pet dog.

Mr Varley was the first of two children; his younger brother Frank later became a Yorkshire darts champion. At school, he was interviewed by a careers officer about his job aspirations. On saying he wanted to be a Press photographer, the man replied that he had never known anyone who wanted to do that.

His first job was at the Yorkshire Evening News in Doncaster and he soon picked up developing and printing skills. In his own time he submitted photographs to the newspaper, receiving 7/6 for those published.

At 18 he was conscripted for National Service and joined the Royal Engineers. On his first day, he was placed in the guard house for laughing on parade.

With his National Service over by December, 1954, he returned to the Yorkshire Evening News. But he left around 1956 to join a freelance news agency. He took countless pictures, ranging from pretty girls to those involved in court cases, and got them into many national and regional newspapers.

Pictures from this period included those taken of the Sheffield flood. He went into one house full of water, yet there 
was a coal fire burning in a
grate.

In 1958, he landed a job with the Daily Mirror as a district photographer and moved from Doncaster to Leeds. He covered Yorkshire, up towards Newcastle and down into Lincolnshire, or anywhere he was needed.

With the Mirror, he really developed his technique of discovering interesting and unusual photographic subjects.

During slack periods he scanned the local or national papers for a subject. One newspaper carried a couple of paragraphs on a nun being made a junior school sports mistress. He went to the school and photographed her behind some cricket stumps, with gloves and pads on. Then he snapped her playing football and got the pictures in numerous newspapers.

The football World Cup Finals in Mexico, Germany, Argentina and Spain were among his more exciting assignments. The well-known picture of Bobby Moore and Pelé together after a World Cup match is one of his.

He spent many hours at courts covering the Moors Murderers and the Yorkshire Ripper, Peter Sutcliffe. When the Ripper was caught there was a mad scurry for pictures. Mr Varley obtained copies of Sutcliffe’s wedding photograph, the one that has appeared so often in newspapers. But, to find it, he had to discover his wife Sonia’s maiden name, as wedding photographs are traditionally ordered through the bride’s mother. Consequently, he soon found which local photographer held the negatives.

He said the atmosphere at the Mirror changed drastically on Robert Maxwell’s arrival, with many being made redundant. Shortly afterwards, he took early retirement at 55.

In his later years he helped son Andrew run a freelance photographic business. Another son, David, is a camera operator.

Mr Varley died aged 76 in 2010 and on hearing the news editor and broadcaster Derek Jameson wrote: “John Varley worked for me when I was picture editor of the Sunday Mirror in the sixties. He was an absolute delight – a great photographer, gentle, charming and courteous, ready to go to any length to get a good picture.”