THE PARKINSON SHOW

"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...


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...


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...


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!

"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?


Taken the same year, another 'sixties pop-idol, Cliff Richard. Evasively enigmatic, what is he thinking?


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...


Film director, John Huston, caught on set at Elstree Studios in 1955, during the filming of Moby Dick...


Margot Fonteyn, in the rehearsal room, 1959...


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'...


Finally, three of my top Parkinson shots - simple, witty, evocative:

First, an oyster (with pearl) that here becomes almost a surreal Dali-Buñuel eye...


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!"


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...

"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