Photographs by Snowdon: A Retrospective

By Simon Callow and Drusilla Beyfus

Book Overview

It has been said that English photographer Lord Snowdon (born Tony Armstrong-Jones) knows everyone worth knowing. In this first retrospective on his nearly 50-year career, it seems he has also been everywhere and seen everything -- and captured it all, brilliantly, on camera. Published to accompany a major exhibition at the National Portrait Gallery, London, and the Yale Center for British Art, New Haven, the book unveils fashion shots for Vogue, pictures of actors, playwrights, dancers, designers, writers, and artists, and piercing photographs revealing the pain of the lonely and the disadvantaged. All bear the unmistakable signature of one of the foremost photographers of our time.The book ranges from Snowdon's early reportage for Life to his dynamic pictures of Alec Guinness, Helen Mirren, the British royal family, Francis Bacon, David Hockney, Mikhail Baryshnikov, and many more. Snowdon's friends and colleagues contribute texts on the various aspects of his career, revealing the full, extraordinary range of his work.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0810944790
• ISBN13: 9780810944794
• Release Date: November 2000
• Publisher: Harry N. Abrams
• Length: 240 Pages
• Weight: 4.65 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.0" x 11.0" x 12.3"
• Age Range: 13 years and up
• Grade Range: Grade 8 to Postsecondary

Customer Reviews

Splendid!

This book can be a real inspiration to an ambitious portrait photographer. What I liked about the book is that it wasn't just beautiful young females. There are portraits of all kinds of people and each one a piece of art. Highly recommended!

Photography meets fine art meets human drama

If you watched the December 17, 2000 CBS News SUNDAY MORNING feature on Lord Snowdon, you would have noted the photographer's humility. He denies photography's place as a fine art and his significance in his work - the subjects are what is important.No person with an eye trained to fine art could deny the quality of Lord Snowdon's talent. As a fellow professional photographer, I aspire to capture the human condition quite as Lord Snowdon does. The reader will find a variety of work - black & white and color, famous persons and ordinary people, sharp crisp work to grainy impressionist. Don't look for any ordinary pictures - each is dramatic in some varied fashion. Don't look for sensual nudes - a couple of tasteful nudes adorn the book. The photo selection is an excellent representation of his 50 years as a photographic master. The book's technical presentation is superb, in terms of paper choice and printing techniques. I eagerly await Lord Snowden's exhibit at the Yale Center for the British Art. Thank you for your wonderful contributions, Lord Snowdon, and thank you Harry N. Abrams, Inc., Publishers!