Michael Rayner (born 1951) is an Australian press photographer and photojournalist.
Biography Michael Rayner was born in Stockport UK in 1951, 18 months before his parents Alan and Dorothy migrated with him to the industrial Melbourne bayside suburb Altona, as "Ten Pound Poms". During his teenage years Rayner worked a newspaper delivery round. His education at Altona Primary and Altona High limited his study options in his areas of interest; current affairs and news.
News photographer Having failed his Matriculation, Rayner responded to an advertisement for a cadet photographer in The Age requiring a lesser qualification of a school Leaving certificate. Though his photographic experience was minimal, Rayner's knowledge of politics secured him a position along with four others from a field of 250 applicants. He commenced on Tuesday 31 December 1968. Ron Lovitt, the pictorial editor who employed him and took a famous picture of the last ball of the tied Test cricket match between Australia and the West Indies, was an influence on Rayner's photography. In 1972 he won the Sydney E Pratt Award for the best photograph taken by a cadet Australia-wide; it showed VFL footballer Sam Newman being struck square in the face by the ball he had just missed.
For the newspaper Rayner covered news such as the Franklin River blockade.Rosslyn Beeby, 'Creative tactics introduce dull note to blockade', The Age, 5 Jan 1983, p. 5. In 1980 he gained a second place in the Nikon Awards,The Sydney Morning Herald, 5 Dec 1980, p. 8. the following year winning its Best Sports Photograph of the Year for his graphic and comical capture of North Melbourne footballer David Dench's effective smothering of a kick by South Melbourne's John Roberts, and a second prize for 'Sports' in the 1981 Rothmans National Press Photo of the Year,The Age, 7 Mar 1981, p. 3. and merit awards for his news and sports images in the Press Photographer of the Year Awards of 1982.'Photography prizes', The Age, 16 Nov 1982, p. 3. Even his earlier editorial photographs provoked an emotional response,'Luckless, helpless, and nearly friendless', The Age , August 17, 1973, p. 5.Barbara Hooks, 'Car crash children need funds urgently', The Age, 5 Aug 1975, p. 10. and on one occasion he found himself caught up in criminal investigations of corruption in municipal council elections.'Witness says he saw newspapers removed', The Age, 16 Sep 1981, p. 14. Major influences on his approach were Age colleagues John Lamb, a multiple Walkley Award winner, and Clive McKinnon and Terry Phelan of The Sun.
From 1983 to 1999 his remit covered all of the Fairfax-owned media. He meanwhile directed 'Impressions Photography' from a shopfront in North Melbourne with partner the press photographer Tony Feder for four years from 1983 for around two hundred clients including Time magazine and The Telegraph in London,'Press photographers cover the media gap', The Age, 17 Dec 1986, p. 27. then briefly worked freelance on his own 1987- 1988.
Rayner was employed on The Sydney Morning Herald during 1988–1991, on one assignment photographing socialite Susan Renouf in a women's refuge,Nikki Barrowclough, "Lady Bountiful", The Sydney Morning Herald, 24 Mar 1990 before once again freelancing 1991–1994. He rejoined The Age in 1994, covering such disparate stories as a 'boot camp' on the Snowy River for troubled teenage girls,Sue Neales, "Going with the flow", The Age, 29 Dec 1994, p. 55. rehearsals of the musical A Chorus Line.Megan Backhouse, "Life on the line", The Age, 21 Jan 1994, p. 29. the repurposing of Melbourne's notorious Pentridge jail as apartments,David M. Walker, "Her Majesty's apartments, Pentridge", The Age, 16 Jan 1997, p. 25. and the opposite sides in the battle over logging in old growth forests.Geoff Stong, "Trouble in paradise, The Age, February 6, 1999
Freelance Rayner remained with Fairfax until 1999 moving, after a period of teaching, to The Weekly Review in April 2015 until late 2017, concurrent with freelance assignments for The Daily Telegraph UK, Sports Illustrated USA, and The Observer UK.
Mentor and educator Rayner served as a judge on The Age/Nikon school photography competition."Curse that brought victory, The Age, 18 Jun 1996, p. 58. From 1999 his professional experience in photography enabled a change of direction and an opportunity to mentor others in his role as manager of Feral Fine Art Gallery & Cafe (1999–2004) in rural Forrest, alongside his teaching in the medium at Photography Studies College (1999-2008) and Mallacoota ACFE (2008–2011).
Portraitist Rayner's approach to pictures of people in the news is influenced by the environmental portraits of Arnold Newman and Bill Brandt and the photojournalism of W. Eugene Smith. Alongside his sports photograph, one portrait was awarded a first in the 1980,'Three snap awards', The Age, 9 Feb 1980, p. 16.'The snake bite had a happy ending' The Sydney Morning Herald, 9 Feb 1980, p. 3. and a second in the 1982'Pictorial prize to Age man', The Age, 6 Feb 1982, p. 3. and 1984Louise Carbines, 'Age photographer scoops pool wit Cash shots', The Age, 3 Mar 1984, p. 3. Rothmans Press Awards. His subjects have included Mel Gibson, Bob Hawke when he resigned from the ACTU and launched his Federal election campaign,The Age, 1 Jan 1981, p. 7. Eddie McGuire, Paul Keating,'It's not just his popularity that's thinning', The Age, 2 Feb 1992, p. 16. Jean Bedford,Fiona Capp, "Romantics on the road", The Age, 6 Nov 1993, p. 170. Kate Langbroek, Steven Berkoff, Tony GreigThe Age, 14 Feb 1975, p. 24. Guy Pearce, David Gulpilil, Peter Carey, Hugo Weaving, Rachel Griffiths, Gérard Depardieu, Andrea StrettonBrian Courtis, 'Alchemy and the arts', The Age, 8 Apr 1999, p. 62. and Adam Elliot, though not all such assignments went smoothly; Mushroom Records was reported as having treated Rayner 'aggressively' when he attempted to photograph singer Jimmy Barnes in 'casual clothes'. The resulting images were run by The Age regardless, with useful publicity for Barnes.Larry Shwartz, 'Selling the soul of Jimmy Barnes', The Age, 10 Nov 1991, p. 22.
Personal life Rayner has married once and is divorced, with a son and a daughter.
Books Aside from numbers of publications in which his photographs are illustrations, Rayner has published; Ticket to Ride, the Australian continent photographed on train journeys with text by Anthony Dennis;'A rail chance to travel', The Sydney Morning Herald, 29 Dec 1988, p. 11.The Philadelphia Inquirer, May 27, 1990, p. 128.The Times (Louisiana), May 27, 1990, p. 108.Journal and Courier, Lafayette, Indiana, May 27, 1990, p. 46.Florida Today, June 3, 1990, p. 53.The Orlando Sentinel, July 8, 1990, p. 130. Caribbean Odyssey showing cricket culture in the West Indies;Mark Ray, 'Remarks set to ruffle feathers: Caribbean exposed', The Age, p. 51. Contact Renewed; Australia versus the new South Africa; on Test cricket after apartheid. Sydney since the Opera House: an architectural walking guide
Collections National Library of Australia State Library of VictoriaRayner, M., & Sunday Observer. (1988). Tracey Curro / Michael Rayner.
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