An Eye for Fashion: Norman Parkinson Photographs British Designers 1954-1964
A 1963 unused cover shot for Life magazine, featuring Melanie Hampshire, Celia Hammond and others. Photograph: Norman Parkinson
- Date
- Saturday 21st January - Sunday 15th April 2012
- Place
- M Shed, Princes Wharf, Wapping Road, Bristol BS1 4RN
- Tickets
- £5/£4, entry free every last Wednesday of the month
- Learn More
- http://mshed.org/whats-on/exhibitions/
A stunning exhibition of vintage fashion photography by Norman Parkinson.
Vibrant, witty, stylish – the photography of Norman Parkinson encapsulates the world of Swinging Sixties London and the bold strides its designers were making in youthful, modern fashion.
Now the portfolio of one of the most significant British portrait and fashion photographers is on display at M Shed in Bristol, alongside original 50s and 60s clothing from the museum's collection.
The display of over 60 rare vintage photographs, many previously unseen, will tell the story of how post-war austerity Britain sashayed into the Swinging Sixties.
These photographs have been selected from the Angela Williams Archive, the private collection of Parkinson's former assistant. Angela Williams worked with the photographer at his studio in Twickenham in the early 60s and when he downsized she asked if she could have his working vintage silver prints.
"He was the first fashion photographer to take his models out of the stuffy confines of a studio into the real world, where he captured their natural beauty with realism and wit,” Williams commented. “There was always a touch of magic in his work; he did not merely document but also influenced the zeitgeist."
