Vogue | Norman Parkinson

Norman Parkinson

One of the great pioneers of fashion photography, he established his studio in 1934 and quickly became one of Harper’s Bazaar and Vogue’s most important photographers. Parkinson pushed the boundaries of the day and revolutionized photography in the ’40s by bringing his models out of the studio and onto the street. He continued to reinvent himself (and fashion photography) throughout his career: from his ground-breaking, spontaneous images of the 1930s, through to the Swinging Sixties and then the exotic location shoots of the 1970s and 1980s. His portraits of icons such as Audrey Hepburn, Raquel Welch, and Jerry Hall brought him worldwide recognition. He was also a favorite photographer of the British Royal Family. Over the half-century he was taking photographs, Norman Parkinson produced some of the most memorable fashion images and portraits of the 20th century. The British photographer was one of Vogue’s star contributors and enjoyed a relationship with the magazine that lasted over four decades.