“Be daring, be different, be impractical, be anything that will assert integrity of purpose and imaginative vision against the play-it-safers, the creatures of the commonplace, the slaves of the ordinary.”
—Cecil Beaton
Cecil Beaton's Career
Sir Cecil Beaton was hired as a staff photographer for the huge fashion magazines Vogue and Vanity Fair in the 1920's.Beaton became well known for his unique style of placing and photographing his subjects in front of unusual backgrounds. As well as photographing for Vogue and Vanity Fair Sir Cecile Beaton also went on to photograph the wedding of the Duke and Duchess of Windsor in 1937 and also Queen Elizabeth in 1939.
During world war II Beaton recorded the fighting in England, Africa and the Middle East. After recording the war Sir Cecil Beaton went back to photographing portraiture of the rich and famous and also began creating costumes for well known productions such as 'My Fair Lady'.
Sir Cecil Beaton has been a hugely influential and inspiring photographer to other photographers and artist throughout the years.
'Beaton's photography has been hugely influential upon several successive generations of photographers. Irving Penn cited Beaton's pared-down portrait of Quintin Hogg (Plate 57) as s starting point for his own remarkable series of portraits taken in the 1950's. More recently, the photographers Mario Testing and Johnnie Shand Kydd serve as particularly good examples of Beaton's disciples. Testino has immense flair, as did Beaton, and is acknowledged as the world's leading glamour portraitist of choice for international magazines such as Vanity Fair and the international editions of Vogue. More recently his work has crossed over to the contemporary art world among with other photographers based in Britain, such as Wolfgang Tillmans, Juergen Teller, Tom Hunter and Martin Parr. Shane Kydd came to notice in the 1990's for his intimate and up-close reportage style, reminiscent of Beaton's portraits of the Young British Artists of the 1920's.'
National Portrait Gallery. 2004 (Beaton Portraits 1928 - 1968.) Oman Productions LTD.
Sir Cecil Beaton has been a hugely influential and inspiring photographer to other photographers and artist throughout the years.
'Beaton's photography has been hugely influential upon several successive generations of photographers. Irving Penn cited Beaton's pared-down portrait of Quintin Hogg (Plate 57) as s starting point for his own remarkable series of portraits taken in the 1950's. More recently, the photographers Mario Testing and Johnnie Shand Kydd serve as particularly good examples of Beaton's disciples. Testino has immense flair, as did Beaton, and is acknowledged as the world's leading glamour portraitist of choice for international magazines such as Vanity Fair and the international editions of Vogue. More recently his work has crossed over to the contemporary art world among with other photographers based in Britain, such as Wolfgang Tillmans, Juergen Teller, Tom Hunter and Martin Parr. Shane Kydd came to notice in the 1990's for his intimate and up-close reportage style, reminiscent of Beaton's portraits of the Young British Artists of the 1920's.'
National Portrait Gallery. 2004 (Beaton Portraits 1928 - 1968.) Oman Productions LTD.
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| Audrey Hepburn By Cecil Beaton 1964. Google Images Source. |
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| Maria Callas by Cecil Beaton 1956. Google Images Source. |
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| Cecil Beaton's War Child; Eileen Dunne by Cecil Beaton 1940. http://time.com/3878665/cecil-beaton-portrait-of-eileen-dunne-1940-london-blitz/ |
I love Beaton's use of simple lighting and the his portraiture focuses directly on his subjects face and emotion making them look vulnerable. His photographs have a very timeless theme to them and I would look to try and create one of his looks whilst experimenting in the studio for the 'perfect base' project.
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