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Kirsty Young's castaway this week is the photographer Rankin, who went from snapping Kate Moss in nothing but boots and a fedora to a portrait of HM the Queen.

Kirsty Young's castaway this week is the photographer Rankin.

He started out doing fashion shoots and is very good at making pretty young things look even prettier. But his work and influence have spread well beyond the glossy pages of style bibles. From Congolese war widows to canoodling pensioners his skill is capturing a moment of spontaneous and often surprising truth. He should really been doing peoples' tax returns - he went to college to study accountancy - but his head was turned in his halls of residence where the arts students seemed to be having all the fun. Within a few years Kate Moss was posing for him in nothing but a fedora and leather boots. However his reputation for raunch was put on the back burner the day he photographed Her Majesty The Queen - his picture of a serene and smiling monarch now hangs in The National Portrait Gallery.

Photography is he says "like a seduction. It's a relationship compressed into a moment."

Producer: Cathy Drysdale.

Available now

45 minutes

Last on

Fri 8 Mar 2013 09:00

Music Played

  • Frank Sinatra

    It Had To Be You

    • Frank Sinatra: A fine Romance (The Love Songs).
    • REPRISE.
  • Morecambe & Wise

    Bring Me Sunshine

    • The Best Comedy Album In The World...Ever! CD2.
    • EMI Records Limited.
  • The Rolling Stones

    Monkey Man

    • The Rolling Stones: Let It Bleed.
    • LONDON.
  • Oasis

    Supersonic

    • Beautiful Game.
    • UNIVERSAL MUSIC TV.
  • Castaway's Favourite

    • The Magic Numbers

      Mornings Eleven

      • The Magic Numbers.
      • EMI Records Ltd..
  • Bonnie β€œPrince” Billy

    I See A Darkness

    • I See A Darkness.
    • DOMINO RECORDING CO LTD..
  • The Kinks

    Plastic Man

    • Kinks Fab Forty (Singles Collection 1964 – 1970).
    • DECAL.
  • Chase & Status

    End Credits (feat. Plan B)

    • Chase & Status: End Credits.
    • VERTIGO.
  • Book Choice

    • Tuulitastic - Rankin

  • Luxury Choice

    • Pluto and Persephone by Bernini

Credits

Role Contributor
Presenter Kirsty Young
Interviewed Guest John Rankin Waddell

Broadcasts

  • Sun 3 Mar 2013 11:15
  • Fri 8 Mar 2013 09:00

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