Michael Ward was born in London on the 15th January 1929.
His education was sparse and is still going on!
He went to boarding school at the age of three, his parents having separated almost on his appearance in this world, and then went on to three other boarding schools – all disastrous education wise!
He finished what was left of his education with a piano scholarship at Trinity College of Music for three years, at the end of which time he was unable to earn his living as a musician!
There followed a period of working in a lampshade factory, bar tending and modelling. Then, because his father had been a successful actor, he thought he could do it too. He had a few small parts in films and then the usual weekly rep. But he was hopeless. When he could remember lines, nobody could hear him! Eventually he got work as a runner in the film industry and worked for MGM – but he wasn’t able to beat the bureaucracy of the film union so – eventually he borrowed a camera from Stirling Moss and took pictures of him racing, which resulted in a picture of Kate, Stirling’s wife being published in ‘Womans Own’ magazine. This started his rather grandly called ‘career’ as a photographer.
He then freelanced for a while and became a
regular contributor to The Evening Standard show page. After about four
years a friend on the Sunday Times picture desk suggested he worked for
the Sunday Times. The picture editor tried him out and he continued to
try out everything from business news scandals, to war, riots, cat
shows, Beauty Contests and back to Show Business for over thirty years.
In 2006 he wrote "MOSTLY WOMEN" a memoir of Michael`s life with over 200 of his photographs and is still recovering from the shock and surprise that Granta, published it and although it didn’t win the Whitbread book award it did very well and Andrew Motion gave the book a touching and well understood review, a compliment from the Poet Laureate. It all resulted in five exhibitions. The book was launched by the NATIONAL PORTRAIT GALLERY, and there followed exhibitions at Square One gallery, Chelsea, St Giles Gallery, Norwich, The Royal National Theatre and the Last Gallery in Zurich.
Perhaps it’s because, since I wrote my book ‘Mostly Women’, which was published by Granta in June 2006, more and more people have become interested in my work.
But it’s a strange book – although it has over 200 of my photographs in it and I talk a little about photographs, it’s not a photography book.
It’s a serious and perhaps rather sad book about me and my family and the people I met, both before I took up with photography, when I was 29, and after for the next thirty years or so.
He has been married five times with two daughters from his 4th marriage and a step daughter and two sons as a result of his 5th marriage to the actress Elizabeth Seal which happily continues after more than 40 years. He now lives in East Sussex and between them they have 14 grand children.
