The man who reinvented the fashion shoot: Inside the glamorous world of photographer Norman Parkinson and his many A-list friends – including Audrey Hepburn and Jerry Hall
- Norman Parkinson revolutionised fashion photography during his career - much of it spent at Vogue
- Later, became a royal photographer and created portraits of the Queen, the Queen Mother and Princess Anne
- Also snapped scores of celebrities, among them actress Audrey Hepburn and model Jerry Hall
He once described himself as 'the world's most famous unknown photographer' but Norman Parkinson arguably did more to change the face of fashion photography than any other.
Now a new edition of Norman Parkinson: Portraits in Fashion has been released to coincide with a National Portrait Gallery exhibition featuring his work called Audrey Hepburn: Portraits of an Icon.
The display, which opened this month, includes Parkinson's iconic photo of the late actress that shows her standing beside a tumble of pink bougainvillea looking coyly back at the camera.
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Iconic: This shot of Audrey Hepburn, taken in 1955 for Glamour magazine, is one of Parkinson's most famous
But Hepburn, although one of the most famous, was not the only star to pose in front of Parkinson's lens. Along with scores of celebrities and models, among them a young Jerry Hall, Parkinson was also famous for royal portraits and snapped, among others, the Queen, the Queen Mother and Princess Anne.
He also spent 15 years working for British Vogue, where he revolutionised the way fashion shoots were done, before moving to Queen in 1960 as a contributing editor.
Parkinson's glamorous life as one of the world's top fashion photographers was a far cry from his early life, which began in a genteel middle class home in a leafy part of London.
Born in 1913, he went on to attend Westminster School before beginning his photography career with an apprenticeship at court photographers Speaight and Sons Ltd in 1931.
By 1934, Parkinson had built up a client base large enough to enable him to open his own studio, in Piccadilly, and freelanced for a number of top fashion magazines, among them Harper's Bazaar and Bystander.
But when war broke out in September 1939, Parkinson's talents were needed elsewhere and he joined the RAF, serving in a Pathfinder squadron as a reconnaissance photographer.
Demobbed in 1945, he returned to fashion and a job with Vogue during which he met and married model Wendy Rogerson. His stint at Vogue saw a sea change in the way fashion shoots were conducted, with Parkinson spearheading a move from the studio to location.
He posed his models on the beach, on the streets and, in one iconic shot, perched on a stone column overlooking the sea.
Striking: This portrait of the Duchess of Feria was taken by 1982 on a beach in Barbados
Famous: This 1975 photograph of a young Jerry Hall is part of a set of two and was taken for British Vogue
Graphic: A striking photograph taken on location and showing a model in a black and white dress
Capital chic: A model photographed in front of a passing London bus for British Vogue in 1960
But Parkinson wasn't only about fashion. In 1975, a decade after he relocated from London to Tobago, his career came full circle when he was appointed a court photographer to the Queen.
Taking over from Cecil Beaton, who died that year, Parkinson went on to photograph all of the senior royals and produced a series of portraits that were strikingly candid.
One showed Princess Anne smiling broadly from the back seat of a car, while another caught the Queen Mother as she applied make-up in her bedroom.
Partly as a result of his work, he was made a Commander of the British Empire in 1981, nine years before his death in Singapore.
Parkinson, described in a New York Times obituary as a 'photographer, adventurer and royal gadfly', had been shooting for Town and Country in the jungle when he collapsed and died from a brain haemorrhage.
Aged just 76 at the time of his death, Parkinson, 'one of the great eccentrics of the photographic world' according to model Twiggy, died as he had lived - taking the photos he so adored.
- Norman Parkinson: Portraits in Fashion by Robin Muir, £16.59, is published by Palazzo Editions. Audrey Hepburn: Portraits of an Icon runs until the 18th October at the National Portrait Gallery.
Different perspective: Princess Anne posed for Parkinson for her 21st birthday portrait, taken in a car
Spectacular: A photograph of model Carmen Dell'Orefice taken for Town and Country magazine in 1981
Muse: Jerry Hall photographed by Parkinson for the cover of British Vogue in 1975
Game changer: Parkinson pictured in London in 1981 - the year he was handed his CBE
Must read: Norman Parkinson: Portraits in Fashion by Robin Muir, £16.59, is published by Palazzo Editions
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lovely photos!
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