Alan Sugar, who became Sir Alan Sugar and is now Lord Sugar, has been one of the UK’s leading businessmen since the 1970s. Although he came from a working-class background, his budget consumer electronics company, Amstrad, made him a multi-millionaire. For ten years he was the chairman and part-owner of Tottenham Hotspur Football Club. Since 2005, he’s been best-known for his appearances in the popular BBC TV series The Apprentice.
I first photographed him in 2001 for the business magazine Management Today. At that time, I was doing the portrait that went with the magazine’s main interview and on this occasion he was the subject.
The shoot took place in a building in central London, overlooking Marble Arch. Sugar was doing some property developing and had bought the building, refurbished it and converted it into luxury flats. It had been done up in a very traditional, elegant way and was one of the best addresses in London you could imagine. It was a fascinating insight into the other strings to the businessman’s bow.
He is an interesting person to photograph because he’s a little powerhouse and he’s also got a fabulously wrinkled face. I do have a lot of respect for him. However, it was clear from the outset that I wasn’t going to get much time for the shoot. He was extremely brusque and didn’t really do small talk at all. The persona we see on television in The Apprentice isn’t an act.
This story is from the December 07, 2019 edition of Amateur Photographer.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,500+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber ? Sign In
This story is from the December 07, 2019 edition of Amateur Photographer.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,500+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber? Sign In
Final Analysis
Maria Falconer considers...Cromarty. Wednesday 18 August 1993. By Mark Power
Using artificial intelligence ethically
AI-powered tools in photo-editing software can be a blessing to photographers. James Abbott demonstrates a more ethical approach to AI to save time and to simplify complex manual tasks
The gift of nature
Hungarian photographer Csaba Daróczi has enjoyed great success in a number of high-profile photography competitions. Tracy Calder talks to him about fresh challenges, originality, and what constitutes a prize-winning picture
Sigma 10-18mm F2.8 DC DN Contemporary
Andy Westlake assesses a compact, affordable, large-aperture wideangle zoom for APS-C cameras
OM System Tough TG-7
Joshua Waller reviews one of the few tough, waterproof, compact cameras left on the market
OnePlus 12
This latest flagship model boasts high-end specifications beyond its price. Amy Davies discovers more
The dream team
Julia Margaret Cameron and Francesca Woodman pushed the boundaries of photography, and have been paired up in a major new exhibition at the National Portrait Gallery. Tracy Calder takes a look
Images to inspire action
Why is animal photography so popular and can photographs help to save species from decline or extinction? Huw Lewis-Jones, author of a new book on animal photography, talks to David Clark
Photo City: How Images Shape the Urban World
Photography and cities have long had something of a symbiotic relationship, as this exhibition explores. Ailsa McWhinnie finds out more
Final Analysis
Tracy Marshall-Grant considers... The Sun, Early Sunday Morning, by Peter Mitchell