Norman Parkinson: Portraits in Fashion

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Summary: Pictorial biography of influential fashion photographer
Review: Beginning his career in the 1930s, the British photographer Norman Parkinson practically invented the genre of fashion photography with his bold, elegant, and imaginative photographs in the magazines Vogue, Harper's Bazaar, Town and Country, and others. Robin Muir, former picture edition of the British "Vogue," follows Parkinson's career with an introduction and with an essay and gallery of representative photographs from each decade from the 1930s to the '80s. Parkinson died in 1990 while on location for a photo shoot. Parkinson managed to remain at the center of the highly-competitive field of fashion photography for the most demanding fashion magazines because his photographic genius was such that he adapted to the styles, celebrities, imagination, and interests of each decade without loosing his exceptional, uncompromising gift. His buoyant, mannerly personality going with his self-evident professionalism played a part in this. A Parkinson photograph from the 1980s stands out as clearly as one from the beginning of his career in the 1930s, as does one from any other decade. This finely-produced art book with informative and knowledgeable text and over 100 full-page photos, most in color, is a fitting commemoration of this incomparable fashion photographer who left an indelible mark on the field.