things from odd angles, reflecting his belief that
amusement, innovation, and shock were essential
to fashion. But Beaton adjusted to the larger for-
mat, which gave better quality images, and used it
consistently except when on travels.
Beaton himself was of as much interest as his
photographs. He had turned his back on middle
class conventions and entered the aristocratic world
of High Bohemia with his wide-brimmed hats, flow-
ing cravats, and natty suits, which became his trade-
marks. Articulate and creative, he was accepted
into many artistic and social circles, including roy-
alty. He served as Wallis Simpson’s official pho-
tographer at her wedding to the Duke of Windsor
in 1937, is credited with helping create the beloved
image of the Queen Mother after her husband’s
ascent to the throne, and photographed in exquisite
color the Coronation of Queen Elizabeth in 1953.
His color photographs of Elizabeth just before
becoming Queen and of the young Princess Mar-
garet are subtle, delicate, and simply beautiful ren-
derings of women. Of Beaton’s photographs of the
Queen theIllustratednoted in 4 November 1950,
‘‘It has caught her radiance...that elusive quality
of light and fairy book charm surrounding her.’’
His compulsive work habits and discerning eye
speeded up the process of trend setting.
Beaton moved easily through the worlds of high-
fashion photography, Hollywood, and the theatre,
and became a member of the glamorous world of
money and celebrity that he flattered with his cam-
era. His love of beauty and glamour worked su-
perbly in the Hollywood of the 1930s, where he
created portraits of film stars such as Greta Garbo
in somewhat surreal settings.
With the gathering of war in the late 1930s, Bea-
ton’s flamboyant style fell somewhat out of favor.
During the Second World War, he became a war
correspondent for the British Ministry of Informa-
tion. He was made an official photographer for the
Royal Air Force and late in 1942 sentVoguephoto-
graphs of a burned-out German tank and other
eerie ‘‘abstractions of destruction’’ from the North
African desert. These photographs were as much an
aesthetic exploration as a document. He traveled in
the East and was with Lord Mountbatten, the Vice-
roy of India, in New Delhi.
The experience gained during the war years in-
fluenced the style of his portraits, which became
less whimsical, more direct. In December 1945 he
was reporting on what there was left of French
fashion, using the crumbling walls of Paris as a
backdrop for models wearing Balmain coats and
Bruyere gowns. Beaton said of these shoots
There have been very great technical difficulties. How-
ever, in some cases I think the cutting of electricity and
other drawbacks have resulted in our getting some pic-
tures that are outside the usual fashion sphere—in parti-
cular, one, of a girl standing in an artist’s backyard in a
flannel Chinese blouse, in which I tried for some of the
lighting of a Corot portrait. I think it one of the best I have
ever taken.
Following the war, and still under contract to
Vogue, Beaton returned to fashion photography,
adapting some of the more restrained scenarios (in-
cluding women dressed in high fashion but sur-
rounded by everyday situations) typical of the
‘‘new realism’’ that was pervasive during this era.
But new stars in fashion photography began to
emerge in the 1950s, and the photographs of Ri-
chard Avedon and Irving Penn made Beaton’s pic-
tures seem outdated. His contract withVoguewas
terminated. The later 1950s and 1960s led to his
increased involvement with theater and cinema.
Beaton designed the sets and costumes for both
GigiandMy Fair Ladyand won Oscars for both.
In 1956 he began photographing forHarper’s Ba-
zaarsuch personalities as actress Marilyn Monroe,
and writers Carson McCullers and Evelyn Waugh.
These portraits were more personal and consider-
ably more direct, showing that Beaton’s ability to
create a great portrait did not lie solely in his talent
as a set decorator. He was knighted in 1972. In 1974
he suffered a stroke, and was not able to photo-
graph for several years.
Beaton was unique in the variety of roles he took
upon himself. He was not only fashion and celebrity
photographer but also a chronicler of twentieth cen-
tury fashion and a photographic historian whose
contributions to thesesubjects include most notably,
The Glass of Fashion, published in 1954 andThe
Magic Image, published in 1975 and written in colla-
borationwithGailBuckland.InitBeaton’spurelove
and clear understanding of the evolution of photo-
graphy is eloquently and authoritatively set forth.
Beaton’s descriptions of individual photographer’s
contribution to the development of the medium are
among the best writings on photography especially
by a practicing photographer. He also was a tireless
diarist, filling 145 volumes with words and pen and
ink sketches from 1922 to 1974. Facing his own mor-
tality, in 1977, Beaton sold his entire archive of over
150,000 photographs, and hundreds of thousands of
negatives and transparencies to Sotheby’s London,
which remains the principal holder of his works. In
1979, however, Beaton began photographing again,
and continued to do so until the time of his death.DIANAEdkins
BEATON, CECIL