A Fleet Street photographer from Marlow, who spent his life behind the lens, died last month aged 87.

Joe Bangay, who photographed the likes of Madonna and Margaret Thatcher, was turned down as an aspiring footballer by Arsenal and joined the Royal Air Force, although he remained an avid Arsenal fan.

He rose to a position in intelligence in the RAF where a camera was a vital part of his kit. 

He was on active service in Borneo when he helped the Daily Express team “out of trouble” and as a result, they offered him a job as a freelance photographer after he left the RAF in 1968.

With his new Fleet Street credentials, Mr Bangay plunged headlong into the hedonistic arts scene of the 1960’s swinging London, photographing and befriending some the world’s most famous and flamboyant faces in music, theatre, film, politics and sport, including Margaret Thatcher, who he photographed making tea in her kitchen.

From capturing rising stars like Wham!, U2, Eurythmics and Madonna in her very first UK photoshoot, to rare unguarded moments with already established rock royalty, Mr Bangay met and photographed them all.

Paying tribute, his daughter Rebecca, 51, said the room “lit up” when he walked in.

She said: “He just brought a great energy to a room. There was something about him that you just felt a room change when he walked in.

“He had amazing energy and drive. He was very nurturing.

“He was vibrant, full of energy. He was passionate about what he did and very generous in sharing that, not just with his family but with people he worked with. 

“He was strong, bold and dynamic, and you always had such fun with him.”

Mr Bangay had a long association with both The Royal Ballet and The London Festival Ballet companies, and often photographed Margot Fonteyn and Rudolph Nureyev during their famed partnership.

In a statement, Mr Bangay’s family said: “He worked almost all his life, unable to retire from a job he loved so passionately.

“It was a life lived to the full and shared with the world through the lens of his camera.”

He leaves behind wife Janet and their five daughters, Deborah, Louise, Julie, Georgina and Rebecca.