“I’ve never had a monumental idea that I’m a great photographer or a brilliant artist. It has pleased me enormously that what I do with this silly gadget- this silent machine gun of the twentieth century- has gleaned me a lot of respect. But if I should give reign to immodesty, I have opinions which are fresh and I am a fountainhead of ideas. Since 99% of my photographs are taken outside of the studios, I shall have recorded the pendulum arc of over seventy years. I hope people will realise when they look through all these hundreds of transparencies and negatives that I recorded a large portion of the twentieth century. That is not unimportant.“
Norman Parkinson (1913- 1990) was a British fashion and portrait photographer. He was well known for rejecting the more formal studio photography of the 1940’s and photographing energetic images in outdoor settings.
In the course of his career he worked for Harper’s Bazaar and Vogue, as well as taking over as Royal Photographer to the British Royal family after the death of Cecil Beaton.
normanparkinson.com
Back to our Thoughts about Photography main page.
