19.5.10

Norman Parkinson at Chris Beetles Gallery


As a friend of mine formulated it, what is so remarkable about Norman Parkinson is that he is so fashionable even though his career as a fashion and portrait photographer spanned remarkable 56 years. The industry, especially young photographers pay tribute to Parkinson because of his revolutionary transformation of fashion photography: in a time when photo shoots’ scenes consisted of gloomy interiors he took his work to exotic locations. Models started posing in the real world. With that, ‘action realism’ was born and since then it has not left the works of many photographers, among who Monsieur Testino himself. If you don’t believe me, my advice is to head down to Chris Beetle’s Gallery, where some of the work of the remarkable photographer is exhibited and is for sale. Of course, a print by Norman Parkinson does not come cheap. But if you think about it as an investment then it is a small price that you pay for a piece of fashion history, which looks so contemporary next to the covers of all the magazines that we buy every month.  As with clothes, the timeless pieces in photography are the ones that count and make an impact. Parkinson made more than that!

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