Norman Parkinson

Artist’s Statement
Parkinson always maintained he was a craftsman and not an artist. From his early days as a photographer up to his death he remained one of the foremost British portrait and fashion photographers. His work, following the lead of Martin Munkacsi at Harper's Bazaar, revolutionised the world of British fashion photography in the mid 1930s by bringing his models from the rigid studio environment into a far more dynamic outdoor setting.
Humour played a central role in many of his photographs which often included himself. As well as magazine work he was also invited to create the 1985 edition of the Pirelli calendar working with top fashion models such as Iman. His years as an official royal photographer began in 1969 when he took photographs for Princess Anne's 19th birthday and a photograph of Prince Charles's investiture as Prince Of Wales. Official engagement photographs for Princess Anne followed by her wedding in 1973 consolidated his position. His other notable royal portraits included official portraits of Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother for her 75th birthday in 1975. Five years later he photographed with her two daughters, Princess Margaret and Queen Elizabeth
Biography
Parkinson (birth name Ronald William Parkinson Smith) was born in London, and educated at Westminster School. He began his career in 1931 as an apprentice to the court photographers, Speaight and Sons Ltd. In 1934, he opened his own studio together with Norman Kibblewhite, at 1, Dover Street off London's Piccadilly. From 1935 to 1940, he worked for Harper's Bazaar and Bystander magazines. In 1941 after leaving Harper's Bazaar he started a long collaboration with Vogue at first only working occasionally covering the home front combining this with farming first in Worcestershire. Some biographies record that during the Second World War, he also served as a reconnaissance photographer over France for the Royal Air Force. From 1941 to 1960, he was employed as a portrait and fashion photographer for Vogue. From 1960 to 1964, he was an Associate Contributing Editor of Queen magazine. In 1963 he moved to Tobago, although frequently returned to London, and from 1964 until his death he worked as a freelance photographer. He was made a Commander of the Order of the British Empire in the 1981 New Year Honours. He was the subject of This Is Your Life in 1983 when he was surprised by Eamonn Andrews at Hamiltons Gallery in London's Mayfair
Awards
In 1981, he was awarded the Royal Photographic Society's Progress Medal, which "carries with it an Honourary Fellowship of the Society" and later the Lifetime Achievement Award of the American Society of Magazine Photographers. In the same year a major retrospective exhibition was staged at London's National Portrait Gallery. He received a Google Doodle on 21 April 2013, in honour of his work, as well as a British postage stamp to mark the centenary of his birth. The stamp was based on a photograph of Parkinson taken by Roger George Clark and a 1949 fashion photograph.

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