My friend Terry Jenkins, who has died aged 77, was a film cameraman who worked for more than 30 years in television and on documentaries.
In the 1970s he joined my film production company, Platypus, based in central London. The London Weekend Television studios were close by and used freelance crews from Platypus for much of their news coverage. Terry began working with LWT almost immediately, and was particularly embraced by the staff of the Weekend World programme, fronted by Brian Walden.
He was born in Bridgend, to Glyn and Lilwen, publicans, soon after the end of the second world war. When Terry was five, the family moved to Bulawayo, the industrial heartland of Southern Rhodesia, to work in mining. He grew up speaking English with his family but became proficient in Shona and played for the now Zimbabwe national boys football team.
Returning to Wales aged 18, he supported himself while studying at Newport College of Art by working as a painter on the Severn Bridge, suspended 445ft above the river by rudimentary straps. His art and photography were so impressive that he won a place at the newly created National Film School under Colin Young. His 1971 intake also included such future luminaries as Mike Radford, Steve Morrison, Nick Broomfield and Roger Deakins.
Terry left the NFS in 1974 and I met him later that year. He began working with Platypus on television news, using 16mm film before the advent of electronic news gathering.
I chose him to be lead cameraman on Feelin’ Nice Now, shot in Port of Spain in 1982 during the 100th carnival celebrations, voiced by Sir Trevor McDonald, a Trinidadian, and aired on Channel 4 the following year.
In 1990 Terry and I worked on an undercover documentary in Seychelles, where France-Albert René had been installed as president after a coup in 1977. A staunch advocate of independence, René vehemently opposed the Anglo-American military plan for Diego Garcia, and maintained strong links with China, Tanzania and North Korea. Terry fearlessly filmed in strictly prohibited areas, where the “Rule of René” involved the torture and assassination of his political opponents.
Terry continued to work as a freelance cameraman until 2006, when he moved to Portugal after a serious motorcycle accident. There he set about restoring a mini-hamlet in an agricultural settlement of Azenha in the Porto region. He found himself confronted with the labyrinthine Portuguese property laws whereby families can lay claim to single rooms in buildings. With his powerful charisma, he managed to resolve the problem at a convivial mass signing by 21 joint owners, none of whom spoke English.
Terry said that his proudest achievement was the birth of his son, Lewis, in 1983, with his former partner Frances Dowling. He is survived by Lewis and by a granddaughter, Lilwen.
