Monte Fresco

Who was Monte Fresco?

Monte Fresco MBE was an English photographer noted for humorous photographs of sporting events. He covered seven World Cups, many European Championships and more than 40 FA Cup Finals, and Wimbledon Championships.

He said in an interview:

“What makes a great football picture? Being in the right place with the right lens and… luck! After a working lifetime in sport for a national newspaper, with 80% of my time spent concentrating on football, I know that I have been very, very lucky. For me it was always about ‘Incidents’. I was always looking for an incident that had gone unnoticed, something off the ball, something to make the reader stop and take a second look and think ‘I didn’t see that!’”

He followed his uncle Monty Fresco, an award-winning cameraman with the Daily Mail, into sports photography. His nephew, Michael Fresco, has carried on the family tradition as a Fleet Street sports photographer.

Monte Fresco was a member of the Sports Journalist Association and one of the SJA’s most renowned members. His career spanned 50 years as a top sports photographer, including three decades at the Daily Mirror.