©Norman Parkinson

Norman Parkinson was the preeminent fashion photographer in Great Britain from the late 30s until his death in 1990.  He was born in 1913 and at the age of 21 opened his own studio after being an apprentice for a portrait photographer. Parkinson soon began working for the British edition of Harper’s Bazaar, which was the beginning of his long career in fashion.

Throughout a career of seventy years Norman contributed to many publications such as Vogue, Town and Country, Queen, and other international magazines.  Parkinson became famous for his ability to capture accurately the spirit of the period in which he was working, admired for he creative use of locations, and amused by his spontaneity and humor. 

Parkinson reinvented himself for each decade of his career, from his groundbreaking spontaneous images of the 1930s, through the war years and the Swinging Sixties to the exotic locations of the 1970s and 1980s.

By the 1980’s Parkinson had became a household name, a photographer to the royal family, an Honorary Fellow of the Royal Photographic society, a retrospect at the National Portrait Gallery, London, and the recipient of a CBE.

Norman Parkinson photographed many of the greatest icons of the twentieth century and in 1990 he died on location in Singapore doing what he loved and treasured so dear.