Selected Works
Baroness Olga de Meyer, c. 1900
Water Lilies, 1906
Alfred Stieglitz, c. 1910–1920
Marchesa Luisa Casati, 1912
Mrs. Harry Payne Whitney, c. 1912
Vaslav Nijinsky as the Favorite Slave in ‘‘Scheherazade,’’
1916
Helen Lee Worthing, 1920
Josephine Baker, 1925–1926
Further Reading
Brandau, Robert, ed.De Meyer. New York: Knopf, 1976.
De Meyer, Baron Adolf.Adolf, L’Apre`s-midi d’un faune:
Vaslav Nijinsky, 1912 / Thirty-three Photographs by
Baron Adolf de Meyer. With an essay by Jennifer Dun-
ning and contributions by Richard Buckle and Ann
Hutchinson Guest. New York: Dance Horizons, 1983.
———. ASingular Elegance: The Photographs of Baron
Adolph de Meyer. Dedication by John Szarkowski; intro-
duction by Willis Hartshorn; essay by Anne Ehrenkranz.
San Francisco: Chronicle Books in association with
International Center of Photography, 1994.
Hawkins, G. Ray, ed.Of Passions and Tenderness: Portraits
of Olga by Baron de Meyer. Essay by Alexandra Ander-
son-Spivy. Marina del Rey: Graystone Books, 1992.
Ollman, Arthur.The Model Wife. Boston: Little Brown and
Company, 1999.JOHN DEAKIN
British
The British photographer John Deakin died in rela-
tive obscurity at age 60 in 1972. His work was likely
to have been forgotten if not for exhibitions and
books assembled posthumously from the prints and
negatives (many of them in very poor condition) left
scattered with various archives, collections, friends,
and clients. Since his death his importance as a
photographer has been recognized and championed
for two distinct reasons. The content of his work has
been acknowledged as a perfect illustration of a time
and place within British cultural history; the post-
war 1940s and 1950s of artistic, bohemian London,
while the stark, realist style of his photographs are
now admired for their directness in execution and for
the frank portrayal of his subjects, while still holding
within their bleakness a cruel beauty. Coming from a
tradition where photographers complemented their
sitters, still at times airbrushing towards perfection,
John Deakin reveled in portraying life as monochro-
matic, blemished, and very real.
He was born on May 8, 1912 in Cheshire. His
parents had recently moved from Liverpool to be
nearer his father’s workplace in a soap factory. Not
much is known or recorded about Deakin’s early
life. Later he was to embellish or fabricate the details
of his formative years, often referring to himself as
‘‘the slum boy from Liverpool.’’ However, records
show him to have been an excellent student at his
grammar school, his behavior exemplary as well as
being a keen swimmer whose chosen career was to
join his father in the factory. Instead, by the time he
was18hehadmovedtoDublinwherehehada
succession of jobs including window dressing and
possibly a stint in the theatre as well as undertaking
some art education. His first passion was for paint-
ing which he pursued on moving to London in the
early 1930s hoping to make a career as an artist. A
wealthy American collector, Arthur Jeffries, became
his benefactor and the two traveled widely for sev-
eral years to the United States, Europe, South Amer-
ica, and the South Seas, allowing Deakin the chance
to live in relative luxury, paint, and eventually exhi-
bitinLondonin1938.
Deakin started to photograph in the late 1930s
while living in Paris. At the outbreak of war he
enlisted in the British army as a photographer and
was stationed in Cairo, Syria, Malta, Palestine,
and Lebanon, rising to the rank of Lieutenant.
He enjoyed his military service and returned to
Londonafterthewarstartinghiscareerasapho-
tographer. He opened a studio shooting portraits
forTatlerand Lilliput magazines but achieved
little success. Again he drifted until his documen-
tary work, notably his photographs of Paris, came
to the attention of BritishVogue’s editor Audrey
Withers who offered him the position of staffDEAKIN, JOHN