Norman Parkinson: Portraits in Fashion

Wenda Rogerson
US Vogue
by Norman Parkinson, 1949
© Norman Parkinson Ltd / Fiona Cowan

TOURING EXHIBITION

Exhibition | Publication | In the Collection

Norman Parkinson's fashion photography from the 1950s selected from the National Portrait Gallery Collection, accompanied by fashionable dress of the era taken from the Bowes Museum's own collection.

In a career that spanned seven decades, Norman Parkinson (1913-90) dazzled the world with his sparkling inventiveness as a fashion photographer. His long association with Vogue, and his numerous assignments for Harper's Bazaar, Town & Country and other international magazines, brought him worldwide recognition. His innovative style transformed the static, posed approach to fashion photography, while his enchanting, idiosyncratic persona charmed his sitters and projected an alluring and glamorous public image.

Many of the greatest icons of the twentieth century, as well as some of the world's most beautiful women, are revealed through Parkinson's inimitable wit and style, and through his unique eye for glamour and beauty. This Bookshop Gallery display brings together twenty stunning photographs that pay tribute to Parkinson's skill as a fashion and portrait photographer. Subjects featured include Montgomery Clift, Ava Gardner, Audrey Hepburn and Wenda Rogerson.

By the end of his life (he died on location in 1990) he had become a household name, the recipient of a CBE, a photographer to the Royal Family, an Honorary Fellow of the Royal Photographic Society, and the subject of a large-scale retrospective at the National Portrait Gallery (1981).

Venues

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All images and text are subject to copyright protection. 21 November 2008