Career lens itself to love of movie stars

But instead of wishing she was the glamourous icon, Eileen used to dream about being the person capturing them on camera.

"I grew up looking at those stars and the pictures were amazing," says Eileen, aged 58.

"A lot of those glamourous black and white shots were taken by American photographers George Hurrell and Clarence Sinclair Bull, who were my real idols as a child.

"Later on it was Cecil Beaton and David Bailey who inspired me and of course the late Earl of Lichfield - who I got to meet."

For 40 years Eileen has worked in Walsall as a photographer and has had a studio on Lichfield Road for 36 years.

The mother-of-three grew up in Bloxwich and was born in her grandfather's fish and chip shop.

"The fish and chip shop is still there on Elmore Green Road and my parents lived down the road next to the Spring Cottage pub," she says.

"It was a quiet place to live and after leaving Bluecoat School I went to art college in Walsall and got a job in a Rubery Owen photographic shop as a trainee printer.

"It wasn't long before I bought my first camera, a twin lens reflex for £72, which took me a long time to save up for on a wage of £5.

"When I was 18 I joined the Walsall Photographic Society and started entering local and national competitions - and found I was winning almost immediately."

Eileen achieved qualifications with the Royal Photographic Society and the British Institute of Professional Photography.

She says it wasn't long before people were asking her to do their weddings and so she decided to start her own business aged just 22.

"My father Percy died when I was 21 and my sister Leslie moved to Gloucester for her studies and so it left me and my mum June in the house by ourselves," says Eileen.

"By this time we had moved to Rushall Manor Road and I started my business off in a back room, but it wasn't long before I took over the whole house. "My mother still talks about the smelly chemicals that were around the house."

A derelict shop on Lichfield Road in Rushall caught Eileen's eye and before long, the dream of owning her own studio and taking portrait photos became a reality.

Visitors to Eileen's studio would find it hard to believe that the luxurious large reception, with its plush leather sofas and stunning photos, was once a pokey little shop.

"We have almost quadrupled the size of it since it opened, as we bought a newsagents that was on the corner," says Eileen, whose husband Bill Johnson is also her business partner. "It was so exciting starting out on my own as it is wonderful doing a job you adore even if you are working from 8.30am to 11pm most days."

Eileen, who has three children - Laura, 29, Martin, 25, and Bobbie, 24 - had to supplement her income at first by teaching at Wednesbury College of Photography. "Then I met Bill at a water polo social evening and when we got married he became involved in the business," says Eileen.

"Until then I had just been focused on doing my photography but Bill had a head for business and started setting up photo competitions, which went really well."

Eileen says that now her job is to inspire the six photographers she employs at her studio. she added: "I find that just by looking at those old photos of Marilyn Monroe and Marlene Dietrich I cannot resist the urge to pick up my camera."