Perfect lens reflex

I saw a picture of Allan Milligan the other day. It was black-and-white, a little dog-eared, and our hero was holding a Speed Graphic plate camera, on assignment somewhere, the image reminiscent of some 1950s newsreels.

The strange thing was that "Millie", based in our Glasgow office, did not look any different from today, after an unbelievable 40 years with this newspaper: maybe a different jacket, an older camera, probably the same shoes, but certainly the same man, intent and focused on producing a picture that tells the story. When our dog sees the rabbit, or the picture idea, nothing stops him. Tenacious, technically obsessive and driven, he turns in quality images that say something.

Look at the pictures here, spanning three decades: the meticulously thought-out multiple-exposure of a solar eclipse over the Wallace Monument, which won the single picture category in the Scottish Press Photographer awards two years ago; the riveting shot of a Glasgow youth slashing out at Special Branch policemen George Johnston in 1971, a frozen moment which has long since entered the annals of No Mean City iconography ; and you can almost hear the anguished roar from those fans reacting to a missed goal in a Rangers v Dundee game.

Originally from Kirkconnel in Dumfriesshire, and now living in Dunblane, Allan joined The Scotsman on 21 May,1962. Known to his fellow snappers as "35 Milligan" - punning on the 35-millimetre film stock we used to use - he is probably the most consistently short-listed name in the Scottish Press Photographer of the Year awards, and has won the news, sports and feature categories more than a dozen times.

He remains proud to this day of his wrongful arrest by over-zealous MoD police outside the munitions factory at Bishopton, while covering a major story; not least because questions were subsequently asked in the House of Commons, where he was named, resulting in a mention in Hansard. But a more cordial, if demanding, encounter with the military was when he went on winter manoeuvres in Norway with British commandos.

To those who know him, the man is no different away from his cameras. His determinedly energetic approach to life has seen him negotiate with meticulous detail the huge developments in photographic technology of the past four decades. After 40 years with this paper, you might expect "35" to betray some signs of ageing. Nothing could be further from the truth.. He remains unique, our thoroughly modern Millie.

A selection of Allan Milligan’s prints are available for purchase on swts.oldsite.jpimedia.uk