How I Made It: Rankin on how he went from accountancy to photographing the Queen

Welcome back to How I Made It, Metro.co.uk’s weekly career journey series.

This week we’re chatting with Rankin, a famous photographer that’s captured the likes of the Queen, David Bowie, Adele, and just about anyone who’s anyone.

His singular name makes him almost as famed as the celebs he works with, through his striking and recognisable photography.

The 56-year-old (he initially told us it’s ‘none of your business’ before revealing his age) lives in London but has travelled across the globe to shoot the icons of the day.

Though Rankin first thought he’d go down the path of accountancy and maths, living with arty students at university impacted his world view – leading him to then pick up the camera.

The rest is history. Here’s how he made it.

Hey Rankin. So how did you get into photography? When did you start?

I started late. I was 20 years old and studying accountancy at Brighton Poly.

I was lucky enough to fall into halls of residence with a load of art students and they questioned why I would be studying something that I was obviously not enjoying.

So I put the calculator down and picked up a camera.

When I looked through the lens that first time, it was like a lightbulb moment. 

What was it about that moment?

Looking through that first camera, I realised that I could show other people how I saw the world.

I couldn’t paint or draw and I was pretty average at writing, but this source of creative expression was something I got my head round very quickly.

At school, I’d been quite good at maths and physics, so the technical aspect of it didn’t scare me at all. In fact I loved it.

Plus I could express myself for the first time in a truly meaningful way.

Did anyone inspire you? Did you have role models or mentors?

Not really.

In a lot of ways, I was a blank canvas, which lent itself to me teaching myself pretty much everything.

For example, when I first went to college I started looking at photographic books in the library.

I started at A and worked my way through to Z.

So I was influenced by what I liked, not what I was told or taught to like.

What do you think makes a good photographer?

Anyone can take a good photograph, but that doesn’t make them a great photographer.

There are two types of photography: photographers that take photos and photographers that make them. I’m very much from the latter group so my answer relates to that.

To make a great picture you have to combine making you feel something and think something all at the same time.

Making pictures is about constructing a moment in time and capturing it. Great photographers are those that can take or make great photographs again and again.

An average day in the working life of Rankin

6am: Rankin wakes up, checks the papers and gets a coffee.

7am: He’ll walk the dogs for an hour and listen to podcasts or the news on the radio.

8am: He’ll jump on emails for an hour or two depending on meetings.

9am: Leadership meetings begin.

11am: Rankin will be on set for a shoot.

2pm: Time for lunch… and possibly more meetings.

5pm: The shoot will wrap if all has gone to plan – then there may be more meetings.

7pm: Back on emails.

8: Rankin finishes for the day.

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