As a Fleet Street photographer Lynne McEwan has captured some of the biggest and most explosive news stories from around the world.
From the Gulf War and the fall of the Berlin Wall to some of Britain’s highest profile murder cases - the photojournalist has covered them all.
But there is one story that has haunted her above all others and inspired her to become a crime writer - the brutal murder of black teenager Stephen Lawrence.
Lynne, 57, was the first photographer to meet with Neville and Doreen Lawrence after their son was slain in a racially motivated attack in 1993 and the hurt and distress in their eyes has stayed with her ever since.
The mum-of two has drawn on her traumatic experiences speaking to and photographing the families of murder victims like the Lawrences in her new career as a writer.
Lynne, whose debut novel ‘In Dark Water’ is out on June 24, said: “A picture editor once told me, ‘Being a newspaper photographer is like being a tourist in the human zoo.’ - which is so true.
“Meeting so many different people was a privilege and allowed me to put myself in their position and walk in their shoes so when I decided to put pen to paper and become a crime writer the insight was already there.
“I covered the aftermath of a lot of murders with various crime correspondents. I would sit and listen as families poured their hearts out and have me collect photos of their loved ones.
“The case that really sticks in my mind is Stephen Lawrence because the Sunday Mirror reporter and I were the first journalists to go to his family. The police had been telling the press Stephen’s death was gang related and was of no interest but the reporter thought no this is not right.
“I photographed his distraught parents Doreen and Neville at what was to be the start of their long campaign for justice. They went through the family album and gave me the photo of Stephen in his stripy shirt - an image that went all over the globe.”
The snapper, who grew up in Garthamlock, Glasgow and Cumbernauld, added: “There were no family liaison officers in those days so families like the Lawrences turned to us for advice and what would happen next.
“I remember the parent of a Paddington Rail Crash victim saying to me, ‘You have met people in my situation before. I’m never going to get over this am I?’ It’s difficult to give them an answer that gives hope and you just had to be honest.
“I drew on all these experiences when I decided to put pen to paper and become a crime writer. I had seen murder and the devastation it brings from all angles it was just time to tell it with words rather than pictures.”
Lynne, who has set her debut novel on the shores of the Solway Firth, has photographed dozens of celebrities including Princess Diana, actors Peter Vaughan and James Coburn and comedian Jack Dee.
But it is her iconic photos taken in Iraq during the First Gulf War and the image of a little boy peering through a gap in the Berlin wall which she loves the most as she has been able to infuse the emotions she felt on those assignments into her fiction.
The author, who lives near Lincoln with her journalist husband Mickey Burke, son Leo, 27 and daughter Chloe, 23, said: “I was there for the wall coming down and although it was portrayed as joyous you were still on edge and looking over your shoulder for a quick escape route.
“I took the photo of the little boy in West Berlin looking through the wall at a soldier in the East of a city, it was a chance photo but it summed up the mood perfectly.
“I was also sent on assignment with the Welsh Guards during the first Gulf War and some of those pictures are now in the Collection of 20th Century Images at the V&A Museum.
“The most iconic is the one of a soldier taking a shower in the middle of the desert. I took it as a joke but everyone loved it including the soldier’s gran who revealed his identity, turning him into a local celebrity.
“All these stories of conflict and emotion have helped me when writing my book. I’m onto the second in the series and have enough content stored in my head for many more.”
Lynne, whose novel is set on the shores of the Solway Firth and introduces us to DI Shona Oliver - a police officer and RNLI volunteer - who is investigating the death of a woman, whose body is pulled from the sea.
The writer, who worked for the Mirror, Sunday Mirror, The People and The Western Mail in Cardiff, said: “Shona Oliver has been brewing in my brain for 30 years. When I was in Wales I used to sail and raced on a 10 metre yacht. I remember there being a lifeboat with a female member on board, which was quite unusual in the early 90s. I decided Shona should be both police and RNLI as I was fascinated why people would put themselves in such danger to help others.
“I settled on the Solway Coast as the best place to set a crime novel. It’s a crossing place from Scotland into England, the A75 runs through it and it is on the border with Northern Ireland, which means you can bring in situations from outside the area. It’s also beautiful but dangerous. There is menace in the landscape.”
Lynne, who is in her final year of an MA in Crime Fiction at the University of East Anglia, has also been behind the camera as well as in front of it as one of the stars of cult movie Gregory’s Girl.
She said: “I went to high school in Cumbernauld where the film is set and had a small speaking part in Gergory’s Girl when I was 17. I played the waitress in the cafe where Gregory and his sister go for a coffee.
“I had a brief exchange with the star John Gordon Sinclair on Twitter as he is now a crime writer too. There must have been something in the coffee.”
Lynne, who studied photography at Glasgow College of Building and Printing, added: “I’m lucky to have had so many interesting experiences I can allude to in my books.
“I’m lucky to be starting a new career later in life. If I had done it the other way round I would not have had so much to write about. Being a photo journalist gave me a window on the world in all it’s tragic and emotional glory and I’m just putting it down on paper.”
- In Dark Water by Lynne McEwan is published on June 24th (Canelo, PB £8.99, Ebook £1.99)
