A jumble sale, a job, and one January morning
Some photographers discover their craft through school clubs or gifted cameras. For RPS member Martin Keene ASICI FRPS, it began in a jumble sale in 1968, when his mother bought his younger brother a red box. “He had the red box, and I had the contents,” Martin recalls, “[inside] was an old Bakelite developing tank of the kind that you used to have to load the film in a spiral in a changing bag, put the lid on, and then pour the chemicals in the top. So, I had a changing bag and a developing tank before I had a camera.”
The camera followed at Christmas.
That early chemistry kit and camera sparked a love for photography that followed Martin through school and university - eventually leading him away from his degree in Chemical Engineering and into a job on an evening newspaper in Torquay, where he began his professional career.
But it was his move to the Press Association (PA) - the national news agency for the UK and Ireland - in 1986 that marked the beginning of a life spent at the heart of national storytelling. PA photographers, Martin explains, cover “news, sport, politics, royals, show business, and entertainment for regional newspapers, national newspapers, websites, magazines and whoever.” It was a job where no two days were alike.
Above: 1993 - Martin Keene shows his cameras to local children at the country’s Madam Festival during a visit by the Princess Royal to Mongolia. CREDIT: Martin Keene ASICI FRPS / PA Media
His career changed course thanks to a moment of newsroom serendipity. One January morning, the picture editor asked if anyone fancied a trip to Klosters to photograph some members of the royal family. “I had a quick look on the diary and saw there was nothing else coming up,” Martin says.
Luckily for him, it turned out you didn’t need skis to cover a royal skiing holiday; just some shots from outside the chalet where the royals were staying, solid technical instincts, and the willingness to crawl under hotel beds searching for telephone sockets for a portable transmitter.
“By this stage we were moving from black and white to colour, so we would process our colour film wherever you could by hand or in a local one-hour minilab and then connect a primitive scanner to the fixed telephone network,” he recalls.
From royal travels to the picture desk
His pictures from Klosters were a hit, and Martin soon filled the role of PA Royal Photographer. What followed reads like a travel itinerary with a diplomatic twist: Queen Elizabeth II in South Africa and Moscow, Princess Diana in Pakistan and at the Taj Mahal - and some more skiing trips!
Above: 1992 - Diana, Princess of Wales, sits on a seat in front of the Taj Mahal, during a Royal tour of India. CREDIT: Martin Keene ASICI FRPS / PA Media
In 1995, a new editor asked Martin to run the picture desk. “No more overseas tours for me,” he laughs, “it was sitting behind the desk and organising our team of photographers.” What might have been a disappointment for some became a new source of pride. “There is actually a terrific pride in running a team of people… trying to get the best from every one of them every day and seeing their pictures printed well.”
Martin’s years as Picture Editor coincided with major national moments: royal births, weddings and funerals, general elections, Olympic Games, and the London 2012 torch relay. He also wrote books and was made a Member of the Royal Victorian Order in 2007.
Those assignments also coincided with the moment photography leapt from film to digital. “Our first digital camera set us back about £14,000,” he recalls, “and it produced pictures that you would look at now and say, ‘that hasn’t got many pixels.’” But its ability to send a picture directly from an assignment changed everything.
One of the most extraordinary assignments of his later career came after he stepped back from the day-to-day. Right before retiring fully, Martin was part of the team organising photo coverage for the Coronation. “We couldn’t have photographers in some of the key places where you’re going to put the cameras,” he explains of Westminster Abbey. Instead, cameras were mounted on walls and operated from up to 90 yards away via remote control, with Sony’s latest lenses which could be zoomed using software on a laptop. “You’ve made your plans… you’ve practised, you’ve rehearsed. It should work. But you still keep your fingers crossed… It only needs one Ethernet cable to have been inadvertently trodden on or a USB connection to come loose and it's not going to work.”
Despite the pressure, he describes the work as both “a feeling of responsibility” and “an immense privilege.”
On the heart of photojournalism
What becomes clear when speaking with Martin is the deep respect he holds for the craft. Accuracy, authenticity, and ethics are at the centre of it. “People have to believe that the picture that they see is what the photographer saw when they took the picture,” he says.
Despite some well-deserved concerns over AI’s encroachment into news imagery, he remains optimistic about the future of real photojournalism. “It is a brilliant and absolutely fascinating career… though openings are hard,” he says, noting that few newspapers now employ staff photographers. His guidance: seek out local agencies, develop strong communication skills, and stay curious. “If you are a nosy person, it is the best job going.”
Among the photographers he enjoyed working with most were those who didn’t wait for assignments. “They were the ones,” he says, “who said… ‘There’s nothing going on in my patch or speciality at the moment, but I’ll find you something by the end of the day.’” The best storytelling, he believes, lies in that instinct to discover. “Great press photography is about being the eyes of the reader or viewer and taking them to see people, events and places which they would not otherwise be able to see for themselves.”
Above: 1995 - the Prince of Wales with his sons, Prince William (L) and Prince Harry during an informal Photo call on the pistes of the Madrisa mountain above the exclusive Swiss ski resort of Klosters. CREDIT: Martin Keene ASICI FRPS / PA Media
Life after the newsroom
Retirement has brought Martin a new relationship with photography. “Moving from being involved in photography professionally to being involved as a passion is quite interesting,” he reflects. His subjects now include holidays, the odd scene around south-west London and, most of all, his three West Highland terriers. He admits he’s choosier these days: “I only want to go and take those pictures if… that’s going to be the perfect picture.” But he’s working on relaxing that instinct.
Above: Red hut at Ramberg beach, on the Lofoten islands, in the Arctic Circle in Norway. CREDIT: Martin Keene ASICI FRPS
His involvement with The RPS - through the London Region and the Digital Imaging Group (DIG) - has broadened his view of the medium. “The photography that I was involved in was fairly specific,” he says. Seeing what others value, pursue, and create has expanded his own sense of what photography can be.
From a jumble-sale developing tank to managing coverage of a Coronation, Martin’s career is a reminder of how photography shapes the way we understand events - underscoring the power of pictures to connect people to moments that matter.
And for those RPS members who meet him at a micro-meeting in Putney or see him on a DIG session, it is also a reminder that storytelling never really stops; it simply finds new subjects, new tools and, sometimes, some very photogenic Westies.
Above: Dogs with charm. Martin’s Westies. CREDIT: Martin Keene ASICI FRPS
Above: 1994 - Queen Elizabeth II and Russian President Boris Yeltsin exchange a smile as the Queen makes a speech during a state banquet held in her honour at the Kremlin's Faceted Hall, during her State visit to Russia.
Above: 1993 - Prince Harry rides in a light tank during a visit to the barracks of the Light Dragoons in Hannover, Germany. CREDIT: Martin Keene ASICI FRPS / PA Media
Above: 1994 - Diana, Princess of Wales, and her two sons, Prince William (centre) and Prince Harry, ride a ski lift during their Easter skiing holiday in the Austrian resort of Lech.