Revealing new images of the BBC’s most recognisable newsreaders just moments before they are due to go on air show some of the peculiar habits they have picked up before going live to the nation.
The ‘One Minute To Go’ project is the brainchild of BBC worker Robert Timothy, who observed the difference between newsreaders in the moments just before they were due to go on the air.
He began the project back in 2014 and the stunning photographs have now been published online.
On his website, the South African born photographer said: ‘I noticed how, as the seconds disappeared and the headlines approached, the news presenters would stiffen, focus and transform.
‘They went from being a person sat in a room with cameras, to becoming the sole focus of a studio and speaking to millions. It was, and remains, compelling to see.’
He added: ‘I set about trying to capture the decisive moment a news presenter transformed as they went on air. I assume it’s the same moment any actor or public speaker or sportsman experiences in the seconds before they perform.’
Mr Timothy said he kept taking pictures of famous newsreaders and then entered one of the photographs into the annual Taylor Wessing National Portrait Prize – a ‘leading international photographic portrait competition, celebrating and promoting the very best in contemporary portrait photograph’.
The ‘One Minute To Go’ is a free exhibition at the Hospital Club in London from 23 to 26 February 2018 in the main gallery.
Huw Edwards takes a thoughtful glance at one of the screen below his desk before going live. As the BBC News lead presenter for major breaking news in the United Kingdom, Edwards presents Britain’s most watched news programme, BBC News at Ten, the corporation’s flagship news broadcast
Fiona Bruce has a quick glance to her right hand side and makes sure that her notes are in check ahead of the live broadcast. The 53-year-old has gone on to present the BBC News at Six, the BBC News at Ten, Crimewatch and many other programmes since joining the corporation as a researcher for Panorama in 1989
Jane Hill takes off her glasses and takes a glance to her left as she prepares her notes ahead of the broadcast. The photographs relate to the ‘One Minute To Go’ exhibition at the Hosptail Club from February 22 to 26
Clive Myrie fiddles with his microphone just before broadcasting. He is the main evening presenter on the BBC News Channel Monday-Wednesday and alternate Thursdays and he presents BBC News at Ten on alternate Sundays. He had served as BBC Europe correspondent in Brussels and was appointed a presenter on the BBC News Channel in April 2009
Kate Silverton (left) holds onto a computer mouse and stars ahead while Sophie Raworth (right) gets a touch up on her make-up before going live. Silverton has had apperances on BBC News at One, BBC News at Six, BBC News at Ten, and BBC Weekend News, as well as making occasional appearances on the BBC News Channel and BBC World News. Raworth first joined the BBC as a reporter back in 1992
Ben Brown checks himself out before the going live. He joined the BBC back in 1986 and was Foreign Affairs Correspondent until 1991
Simon McCoy holding his hand to his head just before going live. In January 2004 McCoy joined the BBC, and could be seen on BBC Breakfast and BBC News 24, initially as a cover presenter for both. In September 2005 he took over the morning slot on BBC News alongside Kate Silverton
Annita McVeigh (left) gestures towards the camera ahead of her as she prepares to go live. Martine Croxal (right) appears to be staring at something on the table as the countdown to her broadcast looms
Mishal Husain manages to pull a wry smile before going on air. Husain was born in Northampton, England to parents originally from Pakistan. Her grandfather, Syed Shahid Hamid, was a two-star general in the Pakistan army who had served in the British army in World War II, becoming a private Military Secretary of Field Marshal Claude Auchinleck
Victoria Derbyshire seems in good spirits as she manages a smile as she walks onto set holding an iPad ahead of her broadcast. In August 2015 Derbyshire announced on Twitter that she had been diagnosed with breast cancer and would be having a mastectomy, but would continue to present her programme as often as possible during treatment