In his obituary of the great photojournalist Romano Cagnoni (31 March), Sean O’Hagan mentions how, on a trip to Afghanistan, he hid a camera in a mitten with a hole cut into it, in order to take clandestine photographs of Soviet troops. It was not the only occasion Cagnoni employed this subterfuge. In 1981, my wife, June Stanier, then picture editor of Sir James Goldsmith’s short-lived Now! magazine, commissioned him to cover events in Poland: the emergence of the Solidarity movement, the government’s attempts to quash it, and the rise to prominence of Lech Wałęsa.
Cagnoni arrived in Poland with a disguise more elaborate than the mitten. One arm was swathed in bandages from elbow to fingertips. Those were the days before airport x-rays, and the hidden camera went undetected, with sympathies expressed for his “injury”. The mission was a success, which, on his return, we celebrated with a bottle of Romano’s favourite Pietrasanta wine.
Previous to Now! magazine, June, widely considered one of the great picture editors, had held the same position at the Sunday Times Magazine from its inception, and after the demise of Now!, she would again work with Cagnoni from the picture desk of the Observer magazine.
June died on 17 January, 13 days before Romano. Too many losses to bear. Later, sorting through her things, I came across a tiny metal lapel badge, bearing the legend SOLIDARNOŚĆ – Polish for solidarity. A souvenir from Romano.
Noel Chanan
Trull, Somerset
• As a devout vegetarian, I beg you to stop printing cosy photographs of cuddly little fluffy lambs (Woolly welcome, 4 April). Unless, of course, you are prepared to take a step further, and show what happens to them next. Not just in the abattoir, but on the horrible journey there.
Elizabeth Hill
Guildford, Surrey
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