26 1 June 2019I http://www.amateurphotographer.co.ukI subscribe 0330 333 1113
norman parkinson
Robin Morgan
CEO,IconicImages
SteveFairclough:Whatdrove
yourinitialinterestinthe
NormanParkinsonarchive?
RobinMorgan:It is oneofthemost
iconicfashionarchivesintheworld
- andit’sa privilegetobeableto
representit.It is a perfectfitfor
ourbusiness,sellingfine-art
photographyin 50 galleries
worldwide,licensingand
merchandisingimagestofashion
housesaswellaslicensingimages
tothemedia.Theappealtousis
thatsomuchofthearchive,ofover
750,000negatives,hasneverbeen
publishedandmanyofthosethat
were,wereprintedatthumbnail
sizebackinthedaywhenfashion
magazineswereb&wandtext-led.
SF:HowdidIconicImagesgo
aboutcuratingtheParkinson
archive?
RM:It’sreallyverysimple.There’s
thisvastarchiveofimagesina
varietyofformats– frommedium
formattolargeformatand35mm,
datingbacktotheearly1930sright
throughtothedayhedied– sitting
infilingcabinets.It wasbeing
managedbyanartdealerbutboth
thetrusteesofParkinson’sestate
andJakeParkinson,hisgrandson,
wereattractedtowhatIconic
Imagesdoes,whichis somuch
morethanjustbeinganartdealer.
Wehavea teamconstantly
producing,scanning,excavating
andexploring– somethingthat
wasn’tbeingdonewiththearchive
- sothatwecanproducebooks,do
editoriallicensingandsellfine-art
printsinourgalleries.But,more
importantly,wecouldinvestigate
theParkinsonlegacy,buildthe
archiveforposterityandrelease
thevalueof750,000images,when
reallyonly 20 or 30 werereally
beingshowntotheworld.It’swhat
I liketocallindustrialarchaeology
or,tobeglib,‘negativeequity’,asin
releasingtheequityinthenegative.
SF:Whatarethe‘nutsandbolts’
ofworkingwiththearchive?
RM:Thefirstthingwedois handit
overtothestudioteam.Weemploy
fourphotographerstodoallofour
scanningandcleaningofnegatives
becausetheyunderstand,care
aboutandworkwithnegatives.The
firstapproachhasgottobetoscan
everything and leave no stone
unturned– youjustdon’tknow
whatgemsareinthatarchive.The
scanningis vitaltowhatwedo.
Whilewe’rescanninglow-res
contactsheets– we’vecompleted
that,whichtookaboutsixmonths- it givesustheoptiontoexplore
thosecontactsheetsanddecide
whatwewanttoscanathigh-res.
Youdecideif there’sanimagethat
willworkona wallina galleryor
there’sanimagethatwillworkin a
book,newspaper,a magazine
spreadorina fashionrange.
Inconjunctionwiththatwehave
photographycuratorTerence
Pepperworkingwithusbecause
he’sbrilliantandAlexAnthony,
thearchivist,is alsobrilliant.
Theirknowledge,expertiseand
methodologyinformusastowhat
we’relookingat,whatwehaveand
whatitsimportanceis.
We go from scanning to archiving
andcataloguingwithmetadata, but
whilethat’sgoingonwe’re
constantlyinvestigatingfor
opportunitiesforexhibitions.So
we’reelevatingthebrandandthe
namebutwhat’sbeautifulaboutit is
thatwe’realsobeingre-educated.SF:Didanythinginthe
Parkinsonarchivessurpriseyou?
RM:Hewasclearlyalwaysseeking
toprovokehisartdirectorsand
editors– topushtheenvelope.He
navigatedthefrontiersoffashion,
questioningwhatwaspermissive
andpermissible.Thethingthat
reallysurprisedmemostabouthim- quiteapartfromthetechnical
achievementofstayingatthetop
ofhisgameduringover 60 yearsof
changeinprinttechnology,insocial
mores,incamerasandlighting–
is hownaughtyhewas. He was
very mischievous.
RobinMorganis an
award-winningjournalist
andformereditor-in-
chiefofTheSunday
TimesMagazine. Heis
theCEOandcreative
director of Iconic Images.Fuchsia– forAutumnBrilliance!Marie-HélèneArnaudphotographedforthecoveroftheAugust 1957 issue
ofBritishVogue. TweedsuitdesignedbyJohnCavanaghforBergofMayfair,withmatching beret by Simone
Mirman. Arnaud poses in a Rover 10 S sprayed pink especially for theVogue shoot