"The camera can be the most deadly weapon
since the assassin's bullet.
Or it can be the lotion of the heart."- Norman Parkinson, CBE (1913-1990)
One of the all-time great photographers of the twentieth century, Norman Parkinson revolutionised fashion photography through his work in
Vogue and
Queen as well as producing sensational photographic portraits. A major retrospective exhibition showcasing (and selling) original prints by Parkinson opens tomorrow at
Chris Beetles Ltd.
Here are few of the many pictures that caught my eye and - as any amateur photographer will understand - made me sigh with envy and admiration!
To begin, here's Parkinson's wife, Wenda, in a Hardy
Amies suit, photographed near Rotten Row, Hyde Park Corner, London, in 1951: an example of the photographer's ground-breaking decision to take fashion photography out of the staid surroundings of the studio and into the real world...
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHQQztAP-mM4c-lkG6IaFRXIsg4Ymwlu1GjB39Wx0Y6f8sinPUe4Y-lKPwgMpsFuKt63NrJaoxZWGaa1cpZSYgSmSJlaXs6nb2RCuhYDm-StpN0aDA0TS1dHpfSjQecvGsUaf1TA/s400/C29356-b.jpg)
And, once there, Parkinson frequently located his exquisitely dressed, perfectly elegant models amongst the real
people of drab, post-War, austerity Britain.
Here's Wenda once more, this time in a photograph that reveals the sense of fun that Parkinson brought to so many of his pictures. Dressed in a hand-knit cashmere twinset (so obviously from the '50s!) Wenda sits alongside a regular in the Public Bar of
Hobnails Inn, Little
Washbourne, as if a game of shove-
ha'penny was as natural to her as croquet...
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0StooVQBlefHfeqC2sWCI8wpFyzbOEcG4gPeHs-vAOmP-hojXzzP9RSg0PpJsoDyv023DRWHF_T4fzWuWAfIKokm2XqusFMglPlO9Rtx6B7hZsUxsBD-jmiOH6ZydW1qRUaccrQ/s400/C29318-b.jpg)
This photograph, from 1949, featuring 'The New Look' was taken under the portico of the National Gallery looking towards Trafalgar Square and is a stunning composition, not just for its use of black-and-white and shades of grey but for the sense of 'narrative' that is a part of so many of Parkinson's pictures: the women aren't just modelling clothes, they are engaged in a conversation and we are witnessing an instant in an unfolding story...
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUPp7Cy6ivglELCqN-83Nx7qg6IGo7a-kgOHKoq31BHyTvk-qNqLJiZ5QDVzuRUrUAM62byrhkmsL5Gpvk0Dexhoqcqw5mwwmb9KKgA3QIX_jPAmcyI7ObNXFTKCRfBgedUdnMnw/s400/C29316-b.jpg)
Next, not - as you might be forgiven for thinking, an Ascot photo - but a
DRINKA PINTA MILKA DAY advertisement for Britain's Milk Marketing Board, dating from round 1958. Cool and funny: genius!
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgaEo85nLWkUKhYBCk6xeybj6PzKmEf4jPrkOtso270NxThiv0PUAR_wrsZ8qv-C5aM3Xs8ADMpfmYYA-nGdlFRQW2EpBa_bW5c-JnU2mGGe8qHLKWsGtYU0760JKSxX42qLI4Mjg/s400/C28505-b.jpg)
"I like to make people look as good as they'd like to look,
and with luck, a shade better."
Parkinson was a great celebrity portraitist and here's one of his most famous: The Beatles, taken at the Hotel President, Russell Square, London, in 1963. The image became iconic, but what informed the Fab Four's upward-looking eye-line?
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCjCzzExyhWESVAIa6jONVpZHB9nihNlj06S-HlPt4G25zr4LbZAPovAfvfDgMpCc_P8yYB00Tm5tfUKi4D9GWuLh8N58vnUUKLU3sYUNGsfKWhaA2wlInfBCDuWpykkVoIKr83w/s400/C29314-b.jpg)
Taken the same year, another 'sixties pop-idol, Cliff Richard. Evasively enigmatic, what
is he thinking?
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhagcEXNl_HTrRzsdlRbDVE0nrrsZmr1GuagiKPdnC8_eA2Bp_DpQKpRY3P0iXgHxlwXIegdKsmh3_Z83AxsU52yGts5oaOmZX-E6UVzqp-Lf3hfOJoUrUF1t3H_PEfO_V_2hXGbw/s400/C29299-b.jpg)
And, among other portraits, Henry Moore with one of his sculptural groups in
Battersea Park, London, in 1958 - the artist almost crowded out of the picture by his art, but note the skill with which the photographer has defined that profile...
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBGBszlhs66suHnT5ADUcY5nQZZtsQcQ5A6p39dzQGc4soBbQ3dPjjFbTXpqZQeDitnPA4UmP0Dod3an55KOTTva1IijexgseygEOlUgor_ZIISvoCdK3efW7bNsAIQxwUEFiXGg/s400/C29317-b.jpg)
Film director, John Huston, caught on set at
Elstree Studios in 1955, during the filming of
Moby Dick...
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1XKoyeoepwQ9oVhH3-HsPsCd7MubOVgVFPPXNMS47GrOKk_-NffySZXujFD9mSFvG2sBPPVJl9iradDwyV3l1CBOU5bPh46713QcRqn304v8LhsEf6PnTDoFldFpPES9h_fwKow/s400/C29335-b.jpg)
Margot
Fonteyn, in the rehearsal room, 1959...
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzoHPFhAdzgY4lzbcdgq-ngedjjbtmkO_YTCj_fTvstUwCPqo0aHJpfil2MCSpfGUjNV3DI_RjnTSCola9pzn7PU_Q0UNCHdIHjIHpSoTs1V5f5rkFYzaTRf-w7uQ2Ntoj1tjDfg/s400/C29332-b.jpg)
And an ironic portrait of Tom
Lehrer (also 1959) captioned "You're not eating..." inspired by the lyrics to one of
Lehrer's best-known songs, 'Poisoning Pigeons in the Park'...
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi54FHv-gFrZqsQoHAytl-IqWcmSRPPsT4JgldzyTOYE9JTWtFva-S1ftwI8gtjLEWpE2VGT68kSbcufIxnpm9ctdUT60mWBZs1w8p-QgGeZSLP4ILPBWMjIqU0kWG0W5dDvRL4bQ/s400/C29313-b.jpg)
Finally, three of my top Parkinson shots - simple, witty, evocative:
First, an oyster (with pearl) that here becomes almost a surreal Dali-
Buñuel eye...
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIO9gK3mfiDF9WuqOMAEieUlxxOH8Hi-A2HRQhwg9LM3W10DoLvqcsFyOHO7IuFXXd0O1CXkE3ph5b6wS7DkHuYFHiZVX_aaNgL3ZqO7i_D0nxZDxkLNRqB146lgd4G-S3u2xzzw/s400/C29319-b.jpg)
Secondly, Wenda and Ostriches in South Africa in 1951. As the bird she was riding galloped of with his wife clinging to its back, Parkinson - intent upon getting shots - yelled "More profile, Wenda! More profile!"
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgy_9FF0p9ZIJn4WpTb2MAuW1x8I6kDTAvDZhiIZTe4U7SOOJNAzaZcvKCdSzcIx0WZcKaWtAildWut_jbOScTF7MH09OVNGgZcZqrbymcXuf_PMt3gFMhihjkI1c03JK8nnqgRrw/s400/C29337-b.jpg)
And, from 1960, New York, New York, a shot-from-ground-level photo of a couple running along East River Drive that is filled with excitement, energy and pure
joie de vivere...
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhv_tPLUIosDU1Oa6w19MmVllxt6Sxhipmqb7GUNdZJiyAFzA6QXQu_O3q8fd3FKZPdcZHJZyorA_pg-E_izlIUbhx-eZsTchdWRvVsnt0K0l8INoUJREoEmdEe61pcZvWmYzWPRA/s400/C29315-b.jpg)
"The only thing that gets in the way of a really good photograph,
is the camera."
The exhibition remains on show until 12 June.
Chris Beetles Gallery is at 8 & 10 Ryder Street, St
James's, London, SW1Y 6QB and opening hours are 10:00-17:30, Monday - Saturday.
There is an excellent, fully illustrated 129 page colour/b&w catalogue with essays and background information available, price £10 (+p&p) which can also be viewed as an
on-line pdf.
All images: © The Norman Parkinson Archive