The National Portrait Gallery are 130 photographs to the good after Lord Snowdon donated part of his archive to the organisation. The artist known to his mates as Antony Armstrong Jones has timed his gift to coincide with the release of a book, Snowdon: A Life in View, and the gallery is putting on a major retrospective of the same name to mark the event. The show includes many of the 20th Century’s most important and famous portraits from one of the most celebrated photographers of all time.
Lord Snowdon started his career shooting figures from theatre, fashion and society in the 1950s, and embarked on an amazing six decade career with British Vogue. He became part of the society scene in a big way himself in 1960 when he married Princess Margaret – the first televised royal wedding, fact fans – and although his work wasn’t confined to celebrity, it is his portraits of the rich and famous that he has become synonymous with. Musicians, artists and writers were favourite subjects, and the exhibition includes studio portraits of the likes of David Bowie, Laurence Olivier and Margot Fonteyne among many others, along with selections from his 1965 series Private View, which looked at the British art scene of the time. There’s also a section of portraits of the Royal Family from the 1950s. The exhibition runs from 26 September 2014 to 21 June 2015, and the book Snowdon: A Life in View will be released in October 2014 by Rizzoli New York.
Brian Wall
by Lord Snowdon
gelatin silver print, 27 September 1963
© Armstrong Jones
Nell Dunn
by Lord Snowdon
gelatin silver print, 21 January 1982
© Armstrong Jones
Vita Sackville-West
by Lord Snowdon
gelatin silver print, 5 June 1961
© Armstrong Jones
Lord Snowdon
by Cecil Beaton
bromide print on white card mount, July 1965
© V&A Images
