Amateur Photographer - UK (2019-06-07)

28 1 June 2019 I http://www.amateurphotographer.co.uk I subscribe 0330 333 1113

NORMANPARKINSON

norman parkinson

NormanParkinsonis one

of the20th-century’s

mostcelebratedfashion

photographers.His

photographscreatedthe

ageof thesupermodel

andmadehimthe

photographerof choice

forcelebrities,artists,

musicians,actors,

politiciansandthe

BritishRoyalFamily.In

a careerthatspanned

sevendecadesParkinson

workedfora widerange

of publications.In 1981

hewasawardedthe

CBEandhada large

retrospectiveat the

NationalPortraitGallery,

London.Parkinsondied

in 1990,whileonlocation

in Singaporeshootingfor

Town& Country.

The book Norman

Parkinson: Always in

Fashion was published

in May 2019 by ACC

Art Books (ISBN

9781788840262) with

an RRP of £35. To find

out more, see http://www.

accartbooks.com.

Steve Fairclough: How did your
involvement with the archive
come about?
Terence Pepper: Iconic Images
contacted me and asked me if I’d
like to do more work with Parkinson
and build on my previous research
now that they have scanned, for the
first time, a huge quantity of
original negatives not previously
catalogued, especially for Queen
magazine in the 1960s and
American Vog ue that I hadn’t had
access to before. There are a
lot more negatives to look at so it’s
much more work than with the 240
images for the 1981 National
Portrait Gallery exhibition (laughs).

SF: Has anything surprised you
when working on the Parkinson
archives?
TP: Yes. We found a few
transparencies and things that
were returned by American Vog ue
recently... there’s quite a lot.
Although the archive has most of
the most important works in it, a
few more important pictures have
come to light, so that’s exciting.

SF: Do you think that the work

on the archive is going to change

Norman Parkinson’s legacy in

any way?

TP: I think we’re finding a few really

iconic images, or rather ones that

will become iconic when they’re

better known. On the whole there

are the same 200 to 300 images

that are reproduced again and

again, but there are a few really

great ones which, when they are

published in books and featured

in exhibitions, will add to the

pantheon of images, so

that’s exciting.

SF: Where does Norman

Parkinson stand in terms of

being a photography icon?

TP: He’s important in that

he was one of the first fashion

photographers working in colour in

the late ’30s when he had eight or so

pages in Harper’s Bazaar before the

Second World War. When a lot of

other photographers were stuck in

black & white, he was really keen to

embrace colour. I think his great

period was from when he first met

Terence Pepper OBE

Photography curator

Left: Gym Is In.

Twiggy.

British Vogue,

February 1967

Right: Her Majesty

Queen Elizabeth II.

Her Majesty Queen

Elizabeth, the Queen

Mother, and Her Royal

Highness Princess

Margaret wearing

Above: Examining

some of the

archive’s square

slides from the

Jerry Hall Vogue

shoot, May 1975

© TERRy O’NEILL