Norman Parkinson's Century of Style: the best bits
As a retrospective of his work gets under way, we pick our favourite images by the father of modern fashion photography
'Any photographer who surrounds himself with a studio is doomed,' said Norman Parkinson, whose work is the subject of a very stylish retrospective at the National Theatre. Parkinson was the man who shook the dust off staid fashion photography by placing his models in, for the time, unlikely settings.
Parkinson's 'Century of Style' exhibition reveals how, from his early work in the 1930s until his death in 1990, Parkinson pioneered many of the things we're used to seeing in the glossy magazine shoots today – like exotic locations and odd props. 'I like to make people look as good as they'd like to look, and with luck, a shade better,' Parkinson said. We say 'hats off to him'.
Browse through this good-looking bunch of photographs
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Fashion models
Corbis/© Norman Parkinson Ltd/Courtesy Norman Parkinson Archive
Fashion models wear a variety of hats on the roof of the Conde Nast Building against a view of the New York skyline, 1949
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Katherine Pastrie
© Norman Parkinson Ltd/Courtesy Norman Parkinson Archive
Katherine Pastrie modelling a Bernard Devaux Hat
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David Bowie
Corbis/© Norman Parkinson Ltd/Courtesy Norman Parkinson Archive
David Bowie, 1977
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Adele Collins
Corbis/© Norman Parkinson Ltd/Courtesy Norman Parkinson Archive
Adele Collins wearing a red hat
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Model posing for British Vogue
Corbis/© Norman Parkinson Ltd/Courtesy Norman Parkinson Archive
Model Posing for British Vogue, 1951
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Maggie Smith
Corbis/© Norman Parkinson Ltd/Courtesy Norman Parkinson Archive
Maggie Smith, 1970s
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Model wearing a hat
Corbis/© Norman Parkinson Ltd/Courtesy Norman Parkinson Archive
Model wearing a Legroux Soeurs Hat, 1952
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Mick Jagger and Jerry Hall
Corbis/© Norman Parkinson Ltd/Courtesy Norman Parkinson Archive
Mick Jagger and Jerry Hall, 1981
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Ava Gardner
Corbis/© Norman Parkinson Ltd/Courtesy Norman Parkinson Archive
Ava Gardner for Vogue, 1953
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Norman Parkinson
Corbis/© Norman Parkinson Ltd/Courtesy Norman Parkinson Archive
Norman Parkinson poses for a self-portrait for Esquire Magazine, 1985
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