The story goes something like this.

It was an image — five years in the making — that made Bob Hawke so envious he arranged a photoshoot at Kirribilli House dressed up as Santa Claus in response.

Confused? Let's back up.

It was December 1975 and Malcolm Fraser — fresh off overseeing Gough Whitlam's spectacular demise a month earlier — had won the prime ministership in his own right.

The Age declares Mr Fraser victorious in the 1975 election. ( ABC News: Patrick Wood )

Surrounded by jubilant supporters at campaign headquarters, Mr Fraser danced with his wife Tamie as photographer Bruce Postle circled and fired off a picture.

"It wasn't a bad shot," Postle recalled this week.

The now-legendary press photographer was working for The Age newspaper at the time and was a regular on the political beat.

He knew Mr Fraser was a keen amateur photographer and, armed with the knowledge the PM had appreciated the dancing photo, he approached with a simple yet ambitious idea.

It was for a picture of the Frasers reading the morning papers the day after the 1977 election — assuming he won, of course.

He did, and the result was a wide shot of the pair sitting at opposite ends of the breakfast table.

The Frasers enjoy breakfast at The Windsor after the election. ( ABC News: Patrick Wood )

It was stately, staged and not uncommon for the kind of publicity shots that would appeal to pollies and newspaper editors alike.

So how did we get from there to a candid shot of the prime minister in his pyjamas lying in bed and laughing on the phone?

That required a few more years, a lot more convincing and a healthy dose of luck.

This was the chance photo that almost never happened. ( Supplied: Bruce Postle )

Getting the iconic shot

As the 1980 federal election approached and Mr Fraser was angling to secure his third term as prime minister, Postle outlined his most ambitious idea yet.

"I went to him and said I wanted to go one step further. I said, 'I want a shot of you lying in bed reading the paper on the morning of the election'," Postle said.

"Tamie said, 'No, no, no'. She said you can't do that, he's got to have one day off.

"But I kept at him in a nice way."

Sorry, this audio has expired State Library Victoria to exhibit the works of celebrated photojournalist Bruce Postle

Election night came and Mr Fraser and his troops rallied again at the old Southern Cross Hotel in Melbourne to watch the results roll in.

It was almost midnight when, buoyed by another win, Mr Fraser finally sidled over to Postle.

"He waited until that moment to come over and say, 'Yeah that'll be OK tomorrow morning'. And he said to be there at 6:00am."

What followed was a couple of hours sleep, followed by a dash to the printing press in Melbourne's outer suburbs at 4:30am to pick up a copy of the Observer, then a ride back to the city for a copy of the Sunday Press.

After all, the papers wouldn't have been delivered to the Windsor Hotel yet, where Mr Fraser had a habit of staying on election nights.

When Postle finally arrived, just before 6:00am, he discovered Mrs Fraser hadn't been swayed.

"Tamie met me at the door and said, 'I'm not in this photo'," Postle said.

Instead, he arranged the papers and the prime minister took up his position in bed — looking as serious as you can when you're in your PJs and someone is hovering nearby with a camera.

The Age made full use of the photo in their election special. ( ABC News: Patrick Wood )

"I took a picture of the whole bed, he was lying back. It was a very stern picture," Postle said.

"I thought at that stage that I wasn't going to get any better.

"I walked over and I shook him by the hand and I said, 'Thank you very much, Mr Fraser' and then the phone rang.

"He picked it up and it was his son ringing from Broken Hill to congratulate him on his win. And he threw his head back and smiled."

Postle almost missed the shot.

He managed to fire off just one photo — snapped "from the hip" without even looking through the lens — and prayed the film would turn out OK.

The Age ran the stern and staged photo without the phone.

It's possible the editorial team made the call because it gave legendary cartoonist Ron Tandberg the chance to add his take on the iconic image, which was published on the same page.

Tandberg's take worked because Ms Fraser wasn't in the shot. ( ABC News: Patrick Wood )

A year later, at an exhibit of Postle's work, Mr Fraser would come over and remark that it was the candid shot on the phone that he liked most.

The limo and the Santa suit

So where does Bob Hawke fit into the story?

Fast forward a few years and he had toppled Mr Fraser to become Australia's new prime minister.

By now Postle was something of a name in political circles, and pollies knew if he took their shot there was a fair chance it would run either on page one or three of the paper.

The State Library of Victoria is hosting Mr Postle's work. ( ABC News: Patrick Wood )

The way he tells it, he was out on the job one day when Mr Hawke came up to him.

"He said, 'Bruce, that picture you took of Malcolm in bed, that's one of the best photos I've ever seen taken in politics in Australia'."

"Then he said to me: 'What can you do for me?'"

Mr Hawke wasn't going to wait for an answer.

Instead, he planned out his own idea: a family shot at Kirribilli House on Christmas Day, complete with the PM dressed as Santa.

Bob Hawke understood the impact of a good photo. ( Four Corners )

"My wife wasn't too impressed about that because on Christmas Eve I had to get a plane up to Sydney," Postle said.

"They had a limo waiting for me at the airport and put me up in the one of main hotels.

"Christmas morning I was taken into this room [at Kirribilli House] and they turned all the lights on and there was a massive Christmas tree."

If you're wondering why you've never seen one of Australia's most colourful leaders dressed as jolly old Father Christmas, Postle has an answer.

"The rest of the Labor Party heard about it and they stepped in and said no, you're not going to do that," he said.

"So he walked out of the room with all his grandchildren and they sat down under the tree and opened their presents.

"And it was nowhere near as good."

The social media age

It's fair to say times have changed somewhat.

For starters, Postle said he didn't bother asking any media minders about taking these shots. He went straight to the prime ministers to pitch the ideas.

Second, today's political leaders have become socially savvy amateur photographers themselves, often bypassing traditional media to take their own "candid" shots.

If it's not Scott Morrison doing laps at the pool, then it's Bill Shorten highlighting the women in the Labor Party.

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But Postle isn't convinced this is such a good idea.

"It probably creates a bit of privacy for them," he said.

"All I can say is if he [Scott Morrison] sat down and talked to a photographer that he thought was OK, he should get them to do all of his work."

Bruce Postle's cameras were of the pre-digital era. ( ABC News: Patrick Wood )

And he can't help but critique the quality of Mr Morrison's photo.

"The only thing he's got going in his favour there is that his whole face is covered in shade," he said.

As for what this means for Postle's iconic shot of Mr Fraser in bed?

"I don't think you'll ever see that picture again in the history of Australia," he said.