Acclaimed photographer Rob Tucker has died. Photo / supplied
Acclaimed photographer Rob Tucker has died. Photo / supplied
Rob Tucker, a photographer whose career saw him drinking with the Queen, flying spying missions for Team NZ, snapping Keith Murdoch as he left the All Blacks in disgrace and flirting with supermodels, died today in New Plymouth.
Tucker, who was made a Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit (MNZM) in the King’s Birthday Honours last week, was the inspiration behind last year’s auction of iconic New Zealand photographs that raised around $150,000 for the hospice movement.
Rob Tucker in 2022 during his drive to raise money for the Taranaki Hospice. Photo / Andy Jackson
The auction was supported with contributions from photographers all over the country and Tucker – his body wracked by the advanced stages of terminal cancer – was the driving force.
From his hospice chair, he conducted an orchestra of what he called the “brotherhood” to produce a staggering result that took away immediate funding worries for Hospice Taranaki.
Tucker, 74, was one of New Zealand photojournalism’s most engaging characters. His career was like a highlights reel of life, people, events and tragedy.
After coming to Auckland in 1968 from a photographic cadetship on the Taranaki Herald, he joined the Auckland Star, returning to his old paper three years later and scoring a dream assignment: shooting the 1972 All Blacks tour of Britain for his newspaper group.
In the middle of it all, big prop Keith Murdoch was sent home after punching a hotel security guard, and Tucker was at Heathrow to grab the picture.
Rob Tucker captured Waitara kaumatua Ray Tito and district councillor Sherril George enjoying a sunny moment at Owae Marae. Photo / Rob Tucker
Two years later, he joined the New Zealand Herald as deputy picture editor - and in 1976 he had the top job, leading a team of 17 photographers.
After eight years running the show, Tucker moved into freelancing, focusing on the corporate sector and building a reputation as a professional who got results, even from wary supermodels and demanding sailors.
On a Bendon corporate shoot, Elle Macpherson was somehow persuaded to oblige his cheeky request for an autographed pair of knickers to boost an auction to raise funds for his son’s Auckland Grammar rowing team. The model did more than sign her name; she scrawled “Go Grammar!” across the seat of her gifted pants.
Rob Tucker shot Mt Taranaki and the Cape Egmont Lighthouse. Photo / Rob Tucker.
He also sailed close to the wind in a long association with the America’s Cup-challenging Team NZ and flew spying missions over opposition yachts to glean inside technical knowledge to take back to the crew designers.
It wasn’t all fun and seat-of-the pants adventure - there was tragedy too. Tucker was on board the Radio Hauraki pirate boat Tiri on its last day before the station headed ashore to legitimacy, celebrating into the night. A crew member joined him on deck and, beside him in the darkness, toppled overboard in the rough seas to his death.
Princess Diana and then Prince Charles with Prince William on the lawn of Government House. Photo/ Rob Tucker
Of the mountain of stories assembled over five decades behind the camera, the royal family was always prominent. He was there for the various walkabouts and, of course, the Charles and Diana buzzy bee shot with Prince William, but not so many knew about his brief close association with the head of the realm.
As a freelancer shooting pictures for international publications during the 1990 royal tour, he was quietly asked if he was available for a private discussion with Queen Elizabeth, who wanted to brief a photographer on a special assignment.
When he turned up at Government House, Tucker was offered a drink, and he asked for a beer, he told reporter Virginia Winder of the Taranaki Daily News.
A surfer leaves the water at the end of the day at Fitzroy Beach, New Plymouth, backdropped by the Sugar Loaf Islands off Port Taranaki. Photo / Rob Tucker
As the Queen came into the room, a courtier brought her a drink and the unlikely couple chatted amiably before she came to the point. For the family album, she wanted a picture taken of a group attending the coming Waitangi Day celebration.
The detail was settled and the deal was done (no charge, of course). Then the Queen put down her own drink and left the room to change for dinner, telling Tucker he should stay and finish his beer.
The intrepid photographer drained his glass and, as one of Her Majesty’s subjects, thought it reasonable to investigate further. With no one else in the room, he picked up what remained of the Queen’s drink and scoffed it. Almost pure gin, he discovered.
