Ray Martin's World reveals stunning images from veteran journalist's photo album

VETERAN TV journalist shares his photo collection from adventures around the world - and reveals the ones he wishes he'd taken.

"My beautiful 'Nepalise Boy'. Like every photographer I still search for another 'Afghan Girl', s

VETERAN journalist Ray Martin has built up a library of 50,000 photographs over five decades - but his biggest regrets are those shots he failed to take.

The much-loved TV personality, 60 Minutes reporter and mad keen snapper has interviewed every American President from Lyndon Johnson to George W. Bush, and every Australian Prime Minister since Menzies, but never once seized the opportunity to ask for a photo.

The world through Ray Martin's eyes

"Like Prince Charles or Prince Philip and a cavalcade of film and television stars, I think most of them are used to hearing, 'can I take a photograph?' and they would (agree)," Martin says. "But I always felt like a goose (with Presidents and PMs), I was there to be a journalist, not a photographer. So it's my great regret."

His latest book, Ray Martin's World, brings together his favourite pictures. His interest in photography began in earnest after he moved to New York as the ABC's US correspondent in 1969 and has since developed into a full-blown obsession.

SCROLL DOWN TO SEE MORE IMAGES FROM THE BOOK

"I've spent my career as a writer and journalist for 46 years, but I probably prefer to take photos now as it gives me more pleasure," he says.

Of course it's the access granted to journalists - and he's interviewed more than 10,000 celebrities and public figures - that enabled Martin to take such candid snaps.

"I began photography by taking endless snaps of my beautiful wife, Dianne, and our two children. This is a favourite of m

There's Elton John suffering attention withdrawal syndrome as he wanders around China unrecognised, Great Train Robber Ronnie Biggs larking around with the Four Corners camera in Rio in the '70s and Paul Newman driving a remote control car around an Atlanta track shortly before jumping in a real race-car and rolling it.

The photos are from all corners of the globe, from Manhattan to the Andes, Capetown to the Aussie outback.

Martin considers himself a "street snapper" who captures life in the moment. While he owns professional camera gear, he prefers to shoot using an inexpensive Panasonic Lumix. For a reporter it's more portable and doesn't attract demands from police or the army he hand over his memory cards, as happened to Martin in Eastern Europe and the Middle-East.

"That's much more likely with a big camera than the little ones I've got that look like tourist cameras," he explains.

Photographs extracted from Ray Martin's World published by MUP this week, RRP $45.

"Hunting the elusive South American black panther, this was the only 'big cat' I shot - at Buenos Aires magnif

"Aussie billionaire and political power-broker, Clive Palmer, insisted he'd once been "chiseled" like th

"After an agonizing week when NOBODY in China recognised him, Elton popped the champers, when an American tourist finally

"Anyone who finds the Aussie outback boring must be blind - or certifiably dead! Sunset outside Alice Springs, in Albert N

"My beautiful 'Nepalise Boy'. Like every photographer I still search for another 'Afghan Girl', s

"A funny moment! Just before he hit the NASCAR race- track in Atlanta, Georgia, Paul Newman relaxed with a member of his p

"I interviewed Saif Gadaffi in Tripoli, as the Libyan revolution was erupting. He was as cold-blooded and venal as his fat

"This old Vietnamese lady clapped the air, when she saw her husband's cataract blindness had just been fixed. Anoth

"I spent many weeks with Sir David Attenborough, riding 'shotgun' for his live stage-shows in Australia. Warm