Get us in your inbox

Search
  1. Fashion models (Corbis/© Norman Parkinson Ltd/Courtesy Norman Parkinson Archive)
    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

  2. Katherine Pastrie  (© Norman Parkinson Ltd/Courtesy Norman Parkinson Archive)
    © Norman Parkinson Ltd/Courtesy Norman Parkinson Archive

    Katherine Pastrie modelling a Bernard Devaux Hat

  3. David Bowie (Corbis/© Norman Parkinson Ltd/Courtesy Norman Parkinson Archive)
    Corbis/© Norman Parkinson Ltd/Courtesy Norman Parkinson Archive

    David Bowie, 1977

  4. Adele Collins  (Corbis/© Norman Parkinson Ltd/Courtesy Norman Parkinson Archive)
    Corbis/© Norman Parkinson Ltd/Courtesy Norman Parkinson Archive

    Adele Collins wearing a red hat

  5. Model posing for British Vogue (Corbis/© Norman Parkinson Ltd/Courtesy Norman Parkinson Archive)
    Corbis/© Norman Parkinson Ltd/Courtesy Norman Parkinson Archive

    Model Posing for British Vogue, 1951

  6. Maggie Smith (Corbis/© Norman Parkinson Ltd/Courtesy Norman Parkinson Archive)
    Corbis/© Norman Parkinson Ltd/Courtesy Norman Parkinson Archive

    Maggie Smith, 1970s

  7. Model wearing a hat (Corbis/© Norman Parkinson Ltd/Courtesy Norman Parkinson Archive)
    Corbis/© Norman Parkinson Ltd/Courtesy Norman Parkinson Archive

    Model wearing a Legroux Soeurs Hat, 1952

  8. Mick Jagger and Jerry Hall (Corbis/© Norman Parkinson Ltd/Courtesy Norman Parkinson Archive)
    Corbis/© Norman Parkinson Ltd/Courtesy Norman Parkinson Archive

    Mick Jagger and Jerry Hall, 1981

  9. Ava Gardner (Corbis/© Norman Parkinson Ltd/Courtesy Norman Parkinson Archive)
    Corbis/© Norman Parkinson Ltd/Courtesy Norman Parkinson Archive

    Ava Gardner for Vogue, 1953

  10. Norman Parkinson (Corbis/© Norman Parkinson Ltd/Courtesy Norman Parkinson Archive)
    Corbis/© Norman Parkinson Ltd/Courtesy Norman Parkinson Archive

    Norman Parkinson poses for a self-portrait for Esquire Magazine, 1985

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

Advertising
'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'.
Recommended
    You may also like
    You may also like
    Bestselling Time Out offers
      Advertising