AN EYECATCHING image can make all the difference to the home page of a website – especially for a freelance photographer.

And that is exactly what former Fleet Street photographer Harry Page has on his website, harrypage.com – with the beautiful face of Miss France gracing the home page.

Harry, whose business Harry Page Images, is based in Hook, took 24-year-old Virginie Dechenaud’s photo while attending the Miss World competition, in Sanya, China, last year.

He had just been made redundant from the Daily Mirror, which laid off six out of its seven staff photographers in September.

But instead of resting on his laurels, he headed off to China to cover the glamorous event on his first assignment as a freelance photographer.

At this point, Harry was already thinking about ideas for his website, which was eventually put together by Digital Design Agency, based in Tadley.

“I had look at a lot of websites to get an idea of what would work,” he said.

“When I saw Miss France, in China, I thought: ‘I know exactly what I’m going to do with your picture’.

“She has the most stunning eyes. I had seen a couple of websites where all they had were eyes looking out to you, bringing you into the website.”

Delighted with the website, which showcases some of Harry’s work, the 54-year-old is upbeat about the new business, where he accepts UK and international commissions from private and commercial clients.

“I’m very positive about the future and I am getting commissions – I’m enjoying being my own boss,” said Harry, who has a state-of-the-art studio in central London.

He is certainly able to draw on his experience where over the previous 30 years, having worked as a staff photographer for The Sun and Daily Mirror, Harry has taken photos of royalty, including Princess Diana, American presidents George W Bush and Bill Clinton, as well as celebrities like David and Victoria Beckham.

He has flown all over the world covering headline news, such as the Zeebrugge ferry disaster in 1987, and the Lockerbie bombing of Pan Am Flight 103, in 1988 to the devastating tsunami that hit Thailand in 2004.

He covered the hand-over of Hong Kong to China in 1997 and helped to make headline news by escorting the fugitive great train robber Ronnie Biggs back to Britain from Rio de Janeiro, in Brazil, in 2001.

l To find out more about Harry’s Fleet Street assignments, read Memories on Monday in The Gazette on Monday.